Prose Fiction: an Introduction to the Semiotics of Narrative

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I Prose Fiction GNASI An Introduction to the Semiotics of Narrative R IGNASI RIBÓ IBÓ

This book deserves to be read by anyone embarking on the thorny study of narratology. It guides the reader through P a tricky welter of concepts with admirable criti cal aplomb and a wealth of apposite examples, ranging from the high- Prose Fiction brow to the popular. —Prof. Clive Sco� , University of East Anglia. Given the increasing popularity of narrati ve inquiries across multi ple disciplines, a textbook on narrati ve is much needed. This book sati sﬁ es such a lacuna. —Prof. Shang Biwu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. An Introduction to Prose Fic� on achieves exactly what it sets out to do: it is a short, clear and easily comprehensible textbook, which provides students with an overview of what is accepted knowledge in narrati ve theory. —Prof. Florence Goyet, University of Stendhal. the Semiotics of

This concise and highly accessible textbook outlines the principles and techniques of storytelling. It is Narrative intended as a high-school and college-level introduc� on to the central concepts of narra� ve theory – concepts that will aid students in developing their competence not only in analysing and interpre� ng short stories and novels, but also in wri� ng them. The author priori� ses clarity over intricacy of theory, equipping its readers with the necessary tools to embark on further study of literature, literary theory and crea� ve wri� ng. Building on a ‘semio� c model of IGNASI RIBÓ ROSE narra� ve,’ it is structured around the key elements of narratological theory, with chapters on plot, se� ng, characterisa� on, and narra� on, as well as on language and theme – elements which are underrepresented in exis� ng textbooks on narra� ve theory. The chapter on language cons� tutes essen� al reading for those F students unfamiliar with rhetoric, while the chapter on theme draws together signiﬁ cant perspec� ves ICTION from contemporary cri� cal theory (including feminism and postcolonialism). This textbook is engaging and easily navigable, with key concepts highlighted and clearly explained, both in the text and in a full glossary located at the end of the book. Throughout the textbook the reader is aided by diagrams, images, quotes from prominent theorists, and instruc� ve examples from classical and popular short stories and novels. Prose Ficti oncan either be incorporated as the main textbook into a wider syllabus on narra� ve theory and crea� ve wri� ng, or it can be used as a supplementary reference book for readers interested in narra� ve ﬁ c� on. The textbook is a must-read for students of narratology, especially those with no or limited prior experience in this area. It is of especial relevance to English and Humani� es major students in Asia, for whom it was conceived and wri� en. As with all Open Book publica� ons, this en� re book is available to read for free on the publisher’s website. Printed and digital edi� ons, together with supplementary digital material, can also be found at www. openbookpublishers.com

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Prose Fiction

An Introduction to the Semiotics of Narrative

Ignasi Ribó https://www.openbookpublishers.com/

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ISBN Paperback: 978-1-78374-809-9 ISBN Hardback: 978-1-78374-810-5 ISBN Digital (PDF): 978-1-78374-811-2 ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 978-1-78374-812-9 ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 978-1-78374-813-6 ISBN Digital (XML): 978-1-78374-814-3 DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0187

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Cover design: Anna Gatti Contents

About the Author vii Acknowledgements ix

Preface xi

1. Introduction 1 1.1 What Is Narrative? 2 1.2 Genres 4 1.3 Prose Fiction 6 1.4 Story and Discourse 9 1.5 Beyond Literature 11 Summary 13 References 14

2. Plot 17 2.1 The Thread of Narrative 18 2.2 Emplotment 20 2.3 Beginnings, Middles, and Ends 22 2.4 Conflict and Resolution 26 2.5 Suspense and Surprise 29 Summary 30 References 31

3. Setting 33 3.1 The World of Narrative 34 3.2 Topography and Atmosphere 36 3.3 Kinds of Setting 38 3.4 Description 40 3.5 Verisimilitude 42 Summary 44 References 45

4. Characterisation 47 4.1 The Actants of Narrative 49 4.2 Individuation 50 4.3 Kinds of Character 54 4.4 Representing Characters 57 4.5 Dialogue 60 Summary 62 References 62

5. Narration 65 5.1 The Expression of Narrative 66 5.2 Narrators and Narratees 68 5.3 Focalisation 71 5.4 Telling and Showing 74 5.5 Commentary 76 Summary 78 References 79

6. Language 81 6.1 The Style of Narrative 82 6.2 Foregrounding 84 6.3 Figures of Speech 86 6.4 Symbolism 89 6.5 Translation 91 Summary 93 References 93

7. Theme 95 7.1 The Meaning of Narrative 96 7.2 Identity 98 7.3 Ideology 101 7.4 Morality 103 7.5 Art and Politics 105 Summary 106 References 107

Bibliography 109 Illustrations 113 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 119 Glossary of Narrative Terms 135 Arts atMaeFahLuangUniversity (ChiangRai,Thailand).Ignasiisthe University ofSussex)isaCatalanwriterandscholar.Hehasbeen comparative literature,ecocriticism,biosemiotics,culturalecology,and Ignasi Ribó(Ph.D.inModernEuropeanLiteratureandThought, author of several novels, as well as academic essays on literary theory, environmental philosophy.Moreinformationontheauthor’s website: than tenyears andcurrentlyworksasaLecturer intheSchoolofLiberal teaching Literary Theory and Semiotics at university level for more https://www.ignasiribo.com About theAuthor vii About the Author

Ajarn Teeranuch Anurit, as well as Ajarn Panida Monyanont and Ajarn washave specificallywrittenforthiscourseandwouldprobably never was writtenforthemandmanyotherstudentslikewhomight Universityto teachthe‘ShortStories me theopportunity (MFU)forgiving charge. came from Thailand, but in some cases also from Korea, Japan, China, Khanisara Sirisit, who taught thisand other literarycourses with me at I wouldliketothanktheSchool of Liberal Arts atMaeFahLuang limited experienceinliterarystudiesbeforeattendingMFU.Thisbook literature team. publishing industrytendstolookatitsbottomlinemore thanatthelines MFU. Itwas anenjoyable andrewarding experiencebeingpartofthis Bhutan, andMyanmar, fortheirinterestandwillingnesstolearnthe academic books thatcanbeaccessed, read andused by everyone freeof available toreadersandstudentsaroundtheworld. At atimewhenthe and makingit in thistextbook at OpenBookPublishersforbelieving and Novels’ course toEnglish-major third-year students.This textbook task. it prints,isatrulycommendable enterprise toproducehigh-quality improving thequalityofbookwiththeirinsightful comments and seen thelightofday,atleastinthisform,ifIhadnotbeenassigned this suggestions duringthepeerreviewprocess. be interestedinstudyingthissubjectelsewhere. basics ofnarrative theory,especiallyconsideringthatmostofthemhad In particular, I would like to thank the coordinator of the course, coordinator ofthe the to thank In particular,Iwouldlike I also want tothanktheanonymous reviewers who contributed to I would also like tothankmyEnglishmajor students, whomostly Finally, Iwould like tothank Alessandra Tosi and theeditorialteam Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements ix

This bookisacollege-level introductiontotheconceptsofnarrative theory (or narratology) thatstudentsneed in order to develop theircompetence which incorporates key elements ofnarratologicaltheoryinto asingle which incorporateskey writing courses,especially thosefocusedonnarrative fiction. general readersinterestedinlearningmoreabouttheliterarydevices coherent framework. The different elements of this framework are then communication, which isbasedonthemostrecent literary theory,but © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 limited exposuretoWesterntheories duringtheir and literary literature periods. It can also be used as a supplementary textbookincreative of the Humanities, in Asia. In general, Asian students have onlyhad a and discussion ofstoriesdrawnfromavariety ofauthors,genresand and novels, someofthemwell-known tostudents,thebookallowsthem and relyingonmanyexamplesdrawnfromawiderange ofshortstories avoids engaging inovertly technicaldebates.Byusingsimplelanguage a rigorous but accessible way. It follows a semiotic model of narrative excessive historicalortheoreticaldetails. The bookshould also be useful that would also include a selection of readings, and in-class interpretation to develop athoroughunderstandingofthe keyelementsofnarrative. to Westernhigh-school orcollege-level,at students,either aswell asto used in narrative texts,particularlyinprosefictiongenressuchasshort in criticaldiscussionofnarrative texts without burdeningthemwith tools toreadandengage them the introduction forthesestudents,giving in analysing,interpretingandwritingprosefiction. high-school education. Thebookaims to provideaneasy-to-follow majoring in English literature and language, as wellmajoring inEnglishliteratureandlanguage, asinotherdisciplines stories andnovels. This material is intended to be used as the main textbook in asyllabusThis materialisintendedtobeusedasthemaintextbook The book has been conceived and written for undergraduate students The book begins by introducing the ‘semiotic modelof narrative,’introducing the by begins The book Prose Fiction presents the mostimportantconcepts of narratology in Preface https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.08

Preface xi Prose Fiction xii without gettinglostintheintricaciesoftheory. developed insubsequentchapters.Thisstructureallowsthestudent developed in detailandaresolely used to illustratekeyconcepts and make different elementsofnarrative inways thatfacilitateunderstandingand current statusofEnglishas thepreeminentgloballanguage,afactwhich course ontheanatomyoffiction. concepts are definedintheglossary at theend of thebook.Throughout chapter onlanguageexploresfigurative devices generally used in prose and theme, The followingtwochapters,onlanguage on narration. chapter from anarratologicalperspective,but alsoimportant challenging, isthe predominance of English(orrather,English-language) literaturecanbe provides aconceptualskeleton,allowingteacherstodecidewhatflesh of thediversity, complexity andexcitementoffictionnarratives. While reading list,based on their own interests and knowledge, as well as on retention bystudents. rhetoric. Finally,thechapteronthemeincorporatesperspectives drawn aspect ofcontemporaryliterarycriticism. are notgenerallydiscussed in similar textbooks butconstituteanessential are notusuallycovered soextensivelyon narrative. bymosttextbooks The understand thekeyconceptspresented.More allow studentstobetter and cultures,mostofthetextswerein English.This written originally explained inpartbecausethe textbookwas originally writtenforstudents from contemporarycriticaltheory(feminism, postcolonialism, etc.)that fiction, andisparticularlyusefulforstudentswhoarenotfamiliarwith the examplesaredrawnfromawidevariety ofshortstoriesandnovels, them easier to understand for students. They also aim to provide a sense tried toprovideexamplesthroughoutthebook.These examplesarenot they want toadd, in ordertoconstructaworkingmodel for aneffective textbook asabare-bonespresentationofnarrative theory.Thebook their students’preferencesandthecontextofteaching.Iseethis an effortismadetosystematicallyclassifyandstructurethe the text, to progressively develop acomprehensive understanding of narrative undergraduate studentswithoutprevious knowledge ofliterature.Key important foranarratologicalanalysisofstories.Theyconstitutethe including bothclassical and popularfictionfromdifferentlanguages most accessible part of the book,providingplentyof examples that majoring inEnglishlanguage andliterature.Butitalsoreflectsthe necessarily affectstheinternational projectionofitsliterature.Coming because Ibelieveown instructors shouldfeelfreetodesigntheir that The languageusedinthebookispurposelysimpleandaccessibleto and characterisationareparticularly The initialchaptersonplot,setting I have purposefullyavoided giving specifictextsamples or readings, Given the abstractnatureofmanyconcepts discussed, I have classroom readinglist. I hope that itwillsparktheinterestof students in literarynarratives, of all the stories that I use as examples. Each entry also includes a link encouraging themtoreadmore,butabove all,toreadmorecritically. end ofthebook,Ihave provided a shortsummary and contextualisation from a countrywhose language andculturehave beenhistorically to additionalsources of information(i.e.,Wikipedia), inordertoguide the richdiversity ofworldliterature. tried mybestto expand theculturalrangeofexamples in order to reflect that derive from the supremacy of the English language. Thus, I have minoritised, Iamnonethelessquitesensitive tothenegative consequences most likelymyexplanationsandexamplesaretooheavilydetermined students intheirownexplorationoftheliterarycanonbeyondformal by theEuropeantradition,which is, after all,my own. In any case, at the While the textbook necessarilyreflectsmyownbiasesandshortcomings, While thetextbook However,sure ifIhave Iamnotentirely succeededinthiseffort,and Chiang Rai,1October2019 xiii Preface

YouTube blogs,theyalltellstoriesintheirownways. Butifthereisone Video games,comics and manga,songsmusicals, stage plays,and world andourlives withoutthem. which literarynarratives have beendivided historically, andhowthese which theycreatemeaning.We willalso present themaingenresinto genres have evolved from their originsuntiltoday.We willthentryto distinction between storyanddiscourse, which willguideourdiscussions are morecommon define andframethetwogenresofprosefictionthat constantly tellingeachotherstories,usuallyaboutevents thathappento In oneformoranother,storiesarepartofeveryone’s lives. We are © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 our own.Thesearethekindofstorieswe call‘fiction.’Manypeoplelike know are not true,butwhose characters, places, and events spark our and inparticularaboutthenarrative formsofliteratureandtheways in and lastingstoriesthroughouttheages,itiswrittenlanguage.Itfair are storiesnonetheless. And we would not beabletomakesenseofour follow asemioticmodel to studyand interpretnarrative structureand forms andgenres,constitutethebackboneofliterature. to say,then,thatstories, and most particularly fictions, in theirvarious to watch series or soap operas on TV. And even more people liketowatch throughout the book. To conclude this chapter, weTo concludethischapter, book. the throughout willconsiderhow us ortopeoplewe know.Theseareusuallynotinvented stories,butthey interconnected withother media incontemporaryculture. imagination and allow us to experience differentworlds as if they were meaning. In order to understand this model, it is essential to graspthe medium that has shown itself particularly well-suited to tell engaging movies, whetherinthecinemaorstreamedtotheirlaptopsmartphone. short stories and novels spread beyond thewritten word and become short storiesandnovels. nowadays andfromwhichwe willdrawthe examplesinthistextbook: We alsoenjoyreading,watching,we orlisteningtostoriesthat In thischapter,we willintroducesome basic ideas about storytelling, Not everyone approaches thesegenresinthesame way. Here,we will 1. Introduction https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.01

1. Introduction 1 Prose Fiction 2 All peoples,everywhere andthroughouthistory,telleachotherstories,or, which means ‘to tell.’ In English, to narrate means to tell a story. means totell which means‘totell.’InEnglish,tonarrate According we attemptaworkingdefinitionoftheconcept,we alreadyknowthat critic RolandBarthesoncewrote, Narrative isnotoriouslydifficulttodefinewithprecision.Buteven before For thepurposeofthisbook,we willdefinenarrativesemiotic asthe representation ofasequence of events, meaningfullyconnected bytime as theyaretechnicallycalled,narratives. As thesemioticianandliterary and cause. forms ofnarrative: to manyanthropologists,thisabilityisuniversal amongsthumanbeings. it referstostorytelling.Thetermitselfcomes from theLatinword 1 2 ae on Based 3 Able to be carried by articulated language, spoken or written, fixed or spoken orwritten, articulated language, Able tobecarriedby 1. The narratives oftheworldarenumberless.Narrative isfirstandforemost diversityof forms,narrative ispresentineveryage, inevery place,inevery 2. a prodigiousvarietyof genres,themselves distributedamongstdifferent comics, news items,conversation. Moreover, underthisalmostinfinite even opposing,culturalbackgrounds. Caring nothingfor the division transcultural: itissimplythere,likelifeitself. stained-glass windows,cinema, drama, comedy,mime,painting, tragedy, society; itbeginswiththevery historyofmankindandtherehasnever substances moving images,gestures,andtheorderedmixtureofallthesesubstances; narratives, enjoyment of which is very oftenshared by men with different, narrative is present in myth, legend, fable, tale,novella, epic, history, between good and bad literature,narrative is international, transhistorical, been apeoplewithoutnarrative. All classes, all humangroups,have their Roland Barthes,‘Introductionto theStructural Analysis of Narrative,’ in See, forexample,William Bascom, ‘The FormsofFolklore:ProseNarratives,’ Journal of American Folklore, Barthes Reader pp. 251–52. García Landa(London:Routledge, 1996),p.3, common structureororganisedwhole. Narratives presenta Narratives are of materialsigns(writtenorspokenwords, moving orstill at leasttwoevents (actions, happenings,incidents,etc.)ina images, etc.)whichconveyneed to orstandformeaningsthat be decodedorinterpretedbythereceiver. 3 Thisdefinitionhighlightscertainkeyelementssharedbyall Narratology: An Introduction Narratology: An — , ed. by Susan Sontag, trans.byStephenHeath(London: Vintage, 1994), as though anymaterialwere fit to receive man’s stories. semiotic representations 1.1 WhatIsNarrative? 78:307(1965),3–20. sequence of eventssequence , ed.bySusanaOnegaJaénand José Angel https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315843018 2 , thatis,theyaremade , that is, they connect is, they , that A Roland narro The 1

As thisdefinitionsuggests,narrative isthefundamentalway inwhich we humansmakesenseofourexistence.Without effort,we connect causal sequence,andmostoftenasboth.Inordertounderstandour lives andtheworldaroundus,we needtotellourselves andeachother events, anarrative, init? everything thathappensinourlifeworld(events) asatemporalor the pictureinFigure1.1belowwithoutseeingaconnectedsequenceof meaningful stories.Even ourperceptionofthingsthatappeartobe static inevitably involves makingup stories. 4 . otr Abbott, Porter H. 6 5 4. 3. Fig. 1.1 Haiku byMatsuoBashō,inBuchanan, p.88. ak b Mtu Bsō i Dne Cup Buchanan, Crump Daniel in Bashō, Matsuo by Haiku (Tokyo: JapanPublications,1973), p.87. University Press,2008), Narratives are Narratives connect events by the sweet cuckoo. Through thebig-bamboothicket,full the sequence of events based on their relationshipintime(‘Hear moon filters.’ senders andreceivers,these meaningsdonotneedto although suddenly plunges.Thesoundofwater.’ by bothtemporalandcausalrelationships. be thesame. olso o Csa ocri, rpe (02. y oet Vongher, Roberto By (2012). cropped Concordia, Costa of Collision CC BY-SA 3.0, The CambridgeIntroductiontoNarrative 4 ), ascauseandeffect(‘Intotheoldpond,afrog meaningful https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816932 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Collision_of_ Costa_Concordia_5_crop.jpg , thatis,theyhave meaningforboth time and cause 5 6 ), or,inmostnarratives, Are you able to look at , thatis, they organise (Cambridge,UK:Cambridge One HundredFamous Haiku

1. Introduction 3 Prose Fiction 4 Already in Ancient Greeceand Rome, narrative was a major literary genre ( Plato and Aristotle, wasthe poettoldstory( basedonwhether Nowadays, forexample,thefollowinggenericdistinctionsarecommonly literature has seen a significant expansion ofgenres,asavisittoany has seen asignificant literature preordained formsthatpoetsneededtoabideby,modern literarytheory, of subordination,inhierarchiesortaxonomies of genres and subgenres. or thestorywas representedorimitatedbyactors( Genres areconventional groupingsoftexts(orothersemiotic Different cultures define and institutedifferentgenres. In fact, modern representations) basedoncertainsharedfeatures.Thesegroupings,which a variety offunctions: and looselydefinedconventions. Genreschangeandevolve throughtime. Other generic classifications, particularly those relatedtothecontentof generic classifications,particularly Other the story(tragedy,comedy, pastoral, satire,etc.),were alsocommonly used toclassifystories: used. But thebasic classification of poetic forms at thetime,established by have beenused since ancient times by writers,readers, and critics, serve such as content, style, form, etc. They areoften organised at differentlevels starting withtheRomanticperiod,hascometosee genresasdynamic bookstore oronlinebooksellerwillattest(seeFig.1.2). epic 1. 1. While Classical and Neoclassical poetics thought of genres as fixed and 4. 2. Genres arecontinuouslyevolvingacrossmanydifferent dimensions, 3. ), distinctfrompoeticsong( Evaluation Prescription Interpretation Classification writers intheirwork.Sometimestheserulesareactively with othertextsinthesamegenre. characters ofthestoryare invented ortakenfromreality). Fiction vs.nonfiction(based onwhethertheevents andthe attention, genres help us to place a particular text among similar genres helpustoplaceaparticulartext attention, enforced (normative genres), while at othertimes they act expectations aboutthedifferenttextstheymightencounter. texts anddistinguishitfrommostothertexts. interpret texts, by providing themwithsharedconventionsby texts, interpret and simply asestablishedcustoms. set about judging the artistic quality of a text, by comparingit of atext, set aboutjudgingtheartisticquality : Critics also use these standards and rules when they : Genresinstitutestandards and rulesthatguide : By identifying the features that are worthy of are worthy features that identifying the : By : These same standards and ruleshelpreadersto 1.2 Genres lyric ) andstageperformance( mimesis ). diegesis drama ). ) These and many othergenericclassifications allow us to impose some writing andreadingthem. combining thecharacteristicsofprevioustextsordeveloping fromthe of writers, readers, and critics,newgenresappeardisappear,often vastorder onthe are publishedeveryof storiesthat number year. Butthey and ‘fiction’ into ‘faction’ (or nonfiction novel). ambiguous boundaries of existing genres, as with theblending of ‘fact’ disposition the Following not eternal. are notsetinstoneandcertainly in contemporary literature.Like all genres, however, they appeared at some point inhistoryandwillonlylastaslongpeople areinterestedin novels andshortstoriesarethemostpopular narrative fictiongenres 7 4. 2. 3. Fig. 1.2 5. See DavidLodge, NY: Viking, 1993),p.203. Adventure, fantasy,romance,humour,science-fiction,crime, Prose vs.versethe used totell technique literary (basedonthe Narrative vs.drama (based onwhetherthestoryistoldor Novel, novella, orshortstory(basedonthelengthofstory). etc. (basedonthecontentofstory). shown). story). Argentina. PhotobyGalio,CCBY-SA3.0, El AteneoBuenos bookshop. Splendid. a convertedGran Aires, into theatre A wiki/File:Buenos_Aires_-_Recoleta_-_El_Ateneo_ex_Grand_Splendid_2.JPG The of Fiction: Art Illustrated fromClassicandModernTexts https://commons.wikimedia.org/ 7 There is little doubtthat (NewYork,

1. Introduction 5 Prose Fiction 6 vernacular languages(insteadofLatin),so that theycould reach agrowing Don Quixote writers overwhelmingly telltheirstories in prose, to thepointthatmost genres, which only emerged in their current forms during the European difference thatwe mightbeabletofindbetween thesetwogenres of culture, theseearly Prose is text written or spoken with the pattern of ordinaryoreverydaythe pattern or spokenwith written Prose istext like epicpoemsorotherformsofpoetryanddrama,butsilently,as language, withoutametrical structure. Verse, on theotherhand, is written part of an intimate experience betweenof anintimate part text. reader andthe the particularly Homer’s Renaissance. or spokenwithanarrangedmetricalrhythm,andoftenarhyme.While of asingleprotagonist.Inthisway, whatwe nowcallthenovel was novelle Boccaccio’s readers todaywouldbebafflediftheyencounteredfictionwritteninverse. audience of readers. These narratives were notintendedtoberead aloud, and shortstories. The distinction between thetwois fairly simple and as filled withawidevariety ofshortstories. tended tobeshortandwere oftenpublished asacollection,likeGiovanni these newnarratives, inspiredinMiddle Eastern andIndianstorytelling, two forms that hadthestrongestinfluenceonemergenceofthese understand thatbothshortstoriesandnovels aremodern narrative in otherformssincemuchearlierandmanyplaces.Perhaps the modern genres ofprosefictionwere theClassical epic poems, most stimulated manywriterstoproducefictionalnarratives inproseusing squire who tries torevive theheroic lifestyle depicted in fictionalbooks still inusetodaytorefershortnovels. Fromtheperspective ofWestern straightforward: shortstoriesareshort,novels arelong. Any other narrative isderived inoneway oranotherfromthissimplefact. narrative fictioncomposed in verse was very common in thepast,modern born. The first modern novel, according to most, is Miguel de Cervantes’ let Manguel, Alberto 9 8 novelle A little laterintheRenaissance, some authors begantoextendthese During the European Renaissance,theseandotherinfluences During the But before identifying certain key differences, it is important to is important differences, it certain key But beforeidentifying genres ofprosefictionnowadaysmost popular By far,the arenovels For adetailedhistory,seePaul Cobley, intolongerstoriesthatoccupied the wholebookwith adventures (singular, Decameron (1605,Fig.1.4),thetragicomic story ofadeluded country 8 Ofcourse, people hadbeentellingeachotherfictionalstories novelle A HistoryofReading novella Iliad (1353,Fig.1.3).Contemporariesreferredtothem arethefirstmodernformsofprosefiction. 1.3 ProseFiction and ), whichmeans ‘new’ in Italianand is aterm Odyssey (NewYork, NY:Penguin Books, 2014). Narrative , and the HebrewBible,which is (London,UK:Routledge, 2014). 9 Initially, Golden Ass differ fromeachotherincertainrespects: different culturesthroughouthistory.Forexample,Lucius Apuleius’ others. of chivalry. Wehowever, shouldnotforget, long narratives, that similar Guanzhong’s in manyways tomodern novels, hadalreadybeenwrittenandreadin Shikibu’s • • Due to their difference in length, short storiesandnovelsdifference inlength, Due totheir alsotendto good short-storywriting. Novels, ontheotherhand,canexploremany differentcharacters, of environments,andjustonesequenceevents. Theycannot Density, concentration,andprecisionareessentialelements of and interest to thenovel.and interest Charactershave roomtoevolve and afford todigressoraddunnecessarycomplications to theplot. elements ofgoodnovel writing. environments, andevents. Thestorycan beenrichedwith the authorcanintroducedigressions and commentary without undermining theform.Scope, breadth,andsweep areessential subplots andcomplications that add perspective, dynamism, Short stories need tofocus on afewcharacters, a limitednumber Tale of Genji (ca.170),Longus’ Romance of the ThreeKingdoms (1010),Ramon Llull’s Daphnis andChloe 15th century.Bibliothèquenationale de France,PublicDomain, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Italien_63_f_22v.jpeg File:Decameron_BNF_MS_ Fig. 1.3 Marchioness ofMontferrat,’ Boccaccio, (ca. 1321), amongst many Blanquerna (2ndcentury),Murasaki

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The

1. Introduction 7 Prose Fiction 8 Real author Title pageofthefirsteditionMiguel ingenioso_hidalgo_don_Quijote_de_ Biblioteca DigitalHispánica,Public They aresimplydifferentformsofnarrative, bothwell adaptedtoachieve the novelThis doesnotmeanthat or worsethantheshortstory. isbetter wiki/Don_Quixote#/media/File:El_ on aparticularcharacterorsituation. their ownpurposes. While thenovel can recreate afictionalworld in all its complexity and vastness,its complexity short storyisabletoshineasharperlight the Domain, de Cervantes’ Fig. 1.5 Semioticmodelofnarrative. ByIgnasi Ribó,CCBY. Implied author https://en.wikipedia.org/ Don Quixote Narrator la_Mancha.jpg Fig. 1.4. (1605). Discourse Characters (characterisation) Environments (setting) Events (plot)

Story Narratee Implied reader Real reader This field has developed a setof conceptual tools that allowus to discern The systematicstudyofnarratives inordertounderstandtheirstructure Man andtheSea (how they work) and function (what they are for) iscallednarratology. (how theywork)andfunction(whatarefor) we astyle, canattribute andvalues, attitudes, basedonwhatwe findin with more clarity and precision the process through which narratives are Ernest Hemingway (Fig.1.6)was born in1899,wrotenovels like died in1961.Whenwe readoneofhisnarratives, weto arenotlistening developed inthistextbook(seeFig.1.5)beginsbydistinguishingthe counterparts. persona towhom the impliedauthorisaddressing the narrative, ascan production andreceptionpossible. reading (the real author and the real reader) from their textual or implied textual fromtheir real authorandthereader) reading (the real people who participate inthecommunicative act of writing and receiver. We candefinethe notion of‘impliedreader’ a Hemingway novel orshortstoryandstarts toreadit,we areeffectively attempt toidentifytheunderlyingsemiotic system that makes narrative the textitself. us as particular individuals. Otherwise, every bookcould only have a use of signs and signifying systems to communicate meanings. In this him tellingusastory(howcouldwe?),persona towhom to avirtual but much concerned with explaining individual narratives,much concernedwithexplaining rather they but is closelylinkedwith meaningful forwritersandreaders.Narratology stepping intotheshoesofitsimpliedreader. single intendedreceiver andtherestofus would be eavesdroppers. But sense, it is important to realise that narratological models are notso sense, itisimportanttorealisethat semiotics, the studyofmeaning-makingprocesses, and inparticularthe book, butaprojectionofthatindividual in thebookitself.Forinstance, be deduced from the textitself.When anyoneof us, at any time, picks up books, unlikeletters,aregenerallyaddressed to anabstractorgeneric 13 12 11 10 ofag Iser, Wolfgang Herman, David Thus, the‘impliedauthor’ The semioticorcommunicative modelofnarrative thatwillbe Similarly, althoughwedoes not address aretheactualreaders,text Wayne C.Booth, See MiekeBal, Bunyan toBeckett Semiotic-Pragmatic Approach toLiterature of TorontoPress,2017). https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442676725 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305920 andshortstorieslike‘TheSnowsofKilimanjaro,’ and Narratology: ofNarrativeIntroduction totheTheory The Implied Reader: PatternsImplied Reader: The Fiction of Communicationfrom inProse (Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1995). Basic Elements ofNarrative The Rhetoric of Fiction 1.4 StoryandDiscourse 12 isnottheactualindividualwhowrote 11 (Chicago,IL: University ofChicagoPress, 1983). ; JørgenDinesJohansen, (Toronto:University ofTorontoPress,2002), (Chichester,UK:Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), (Toronto:University Literary Discourse: A Literary 13 asthevirtual The Old 10

1. Introduction 9 Prose Fiction 10 Domain, Idaho, 1939.ByLloyd Arnold, Public Bell Tolls for thefirsteditionof dust-jacket photobyLloyd Arnold Ernest Hemingway posingfora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (1940),atSunValley Lodge, At onelevel, thereisthemessagethatimpliedauthorsendsto The content of narrative discourse is a ‘story.’ But thestoryis not told (a figure of discourse) who tells the story to a narratee (another figure story toanarratee (a figureofdiscourse)whotellsthe directly by the implied author to the implied reader. It is the narrator the impliedauthorto theimpliedreader.Itis directly by communicates tothenarratee (seeFig.1.7).Itincludeselementslike: levels ofcommunication: only innarrative discourse. The story,then,issimplywhatthenarrator of discourse). Sometimes, narrators andnarrateesarealsocharacters author totheimpliedreader.Itincludeselementslike: Once we move into thenarrative text itself, which already contains an that narratorsornarratees arepeople,noreven characters. Both exist real world,wein the to humanbeings needtodistinguishtwodifferent in the story, butat othertimes they are not. Therefore, we cannot say is themeansthroughwhichnarrative is communicated by theimplied implied reader. We will call this message ‘discourse.’ Narrative discourse implied authorandanreader,bothonlycircumstantiallyrelated File:ErnestHemingway.jpg 14 • • •

See Seymour Benjamin Chatman, 1993); SeymourBenjamin Chatman, and Film Theme Language Narration (narratorandnarratee,pointofview,etc.) For Whomthe (Ithaca,NY:Cornell University Press, 2000). Fig. 1.6

discourse Reading Narrative Fiction and Story andDiscourse: Narrativein Fiction Structure story . 14 (New York, NY: Macmillan, As we have seen, narratives are notconfined to literaryworks.Certainly, Then, wekey elementsofdiscourse:narration,language, willexaminethe we willlookatthekeyelements of story:plot,setting,and characterisation. changing theway peopleproduceandconsumenarratives. In thenextchapters,we willexaminealltheseelementsinmoredetail.First, of novels orplays.Like novels, moviesarenarratives thatpresent rapidly has been Internet, other media,suchascinema,television,orthe a sequence of events connected by time and cause. Unlike novels, in mind to keep is important and theme.Whilereadingthesechaptersit events, environments,andcharactersofthestory, ratherthanhaving the fundamental distinctionbetweenthe which storyanddiscourse,without however, moviesarenotmeanttoberead, buttobewatched. Inthis medium totellthekindofstoriesthatpreviously were thedomain many aspectsofnarrative fictioncannotbeproperlyunderstood. sense, moviesareliketheatre plays:theyshowaperformanceofthe since theEuropeanRenaissanceuntilpresentday. Buttheinvention of novels andshortstorieshave beentheprivilegedvehicles ofstorytelling • • • Fig. 1.7 Semiotic model of narrative shown in speech bubbles. By Ignasi Ribó, CC BY. During thetwentieth century, cinemadeveloped intoanalternative Environments (setting) Events (plot) Characters (characterisation) 1.5 BeyondLiterature

1. Introduction 11 Prose Fiction 12 Adaptations arealwaysand controversy.subject ofpassionatedebate the 1.8). Television has also drawn many of its fictions from literary narratives. Game ofThrones words. Ofcourse,cinemaisnotcompletelylikedrama,becausethe camera, byselectingandframingtheevents presentedinthenarrative, In some cases, prose fictions are also adaptations, for example whenthey of novels abouttheadventures oftheyoungwizardHarryPotterand Much more common, however, isformovies to attemptbringsuccessful Many attemptstoadaptgreat novels tocinemaortelevisionhave been retell the stories found in prose fiction. In general, a narrativestories foundinprosefiction.Ingeneral, the retell basedona and dramatic(stageplay)genres. a newnarrative form,onethatdrawsbothfromtheepic(prosefiction) acts insomeways likeanarrator.Infact,we maywell considercinema a narrator convey those events, environments, and charactersthrough fantasy novels One exampleistheadaptationofGeorgeR.Martin’s series ofmedieval take their storiesfromjournalisticaccounts,historybooks,oreventake movies. his friendshasbeenadaptedintopopularmovies by Hollywood(seeFig. story previouslypresentedinadifferentmedium is calledanadaptation. novels andshortstoriestothescreen.Forexample,J.K.Rowling’s series narratives isclearlyshownbythefactthatmanymovies have triedto 15

The intimate relationshipbetween literaryand cinematographic Fig. 1.8 See RobertStam, anr rs Sui Tu Lno: h Mkn o Hry otr Photo Potter. Harry of Making The London: Tour Studio Bros. Warner by KarenRoe, CC BY 2.0, . A Song of Ice andFire Making_of_Harry_Potter_29-05-2012_(7528990230).jpg Film Theory: An Introduction https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_ 15 intoasuccessful television show, (Malden,MA:Blackwell, 2000).

Less frequently, film adaptations are acclaimed by spectators and critics or restrictedtoanypredeterminedsetofrules.Oncetheyhave been of the originaltext.Moreover, adaptationsarecreative interpretations, of theoriginalworks.Rather,anadaptationis always aninterpretation.In and pleasingthanthenovel.original storyorfindthemovielessengaging read themanduseastheylike,whetheritisfortheirownprivate a stateofpurity.Theyconstitutethefundamentalmeansby which we and commentary,likethememesthatproliferateinInternetera. At adaptations maytrytobeasfaithfulpossiblewhattheadapter and structuralconstraints. as superiortothenovels orshortstoriesthatinspiredthem. enjoyment, ortoadapt,transform,andsharethemwithothers.These text. Buttheycanalsosubvert thosemeaningsthroughirony,humour, thinks istheoriginalintentionofauthorortruemeaning to them,theybecomepartofourculturalmakeup.People arefreeto told, inwhatever formorshape,andaslongpeoplepayattention television, comic, videoclip, etc.) driven bytheirownartisticmotivations different, anadaptationisnecessarilyasubjectivethe storywillbe reading the sameway thattworeaderswillnever readthesamenovel, becausetheir to newinterpretations. the endofday,storiesarenottheretoberevered andconserved in interpretation of theevents,interpretation environments,andcharactersrepresentedin humans give meaningtoourworld. And assuch,theyarealways open negativelyreceived lack ofrespectforthe spectators, whodecrythe by because theyproduce new textsorsemiotic representations (cinema, 16 • • met Eco, Umberto What most people tend to forget is that adaptations arenottranslations is that most peopletendtoforget What The factisthatstoriescannotbecontainedinanyparticularmedium There aremanywaysnarratives toclassifyliterary intodifferent verse), to thelengthof the story(novel and short story),orto (fiction andnonfiction),totheway thestoryistold(proseand genres, according,forexample,tothetruthfulnessof theevents Narrative is the semiotic representation of a sequence of events, romance, etc.). events. the contentofstory (adventure, science-fiction, fantasy, use written language to representtheconnected sequence of language use written meaningfully connectedbytimeandcause.Literary narratives The OpenWork 16 (Cambridge,MA:Harvard University Press,1989). Summary

1. Introduction 13 Prose Fiction 14 Abbott, H. Porter, Abbott, Iser, Wolfgang, Herman, David, Johansen, JørgenDines, Eco, Umberto, Cobley, Paul, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Burroway,Janet, Buchanan, DanielCrump, Bascom, William, ‘TheFormsofFolklore:ProseNarratives,’ Barthes, Roland,‘IntroductiontotheStructural Analysis ofNarrative,’ in Bal, Mieke, Booth, Wayne C., • • • Vintage, 1994),pp.251–95. 1993). 1973). 1983). Bunyan toBeckett Barthes Reader Film Folklore University ofTorontoPress,2017). to Literature Cambridge University Press,2008), Chicago Press,2019), org/10.3138/9781442676725 2009), The semiotic model of narrative, developed in thefield of wide variety ofmedia,suchasfilm,television,comics,etc. Prose fictions are partofthemanifold narratives thatwe humans Prose fictionisnarrativethat a metricalpattern without written Novels tendtobemuchlongerthanshortstories. of prosefictioninmodern literature arenovels andshortstories. reader) andstory(whatthenarratortellsnarratee). reader) the narrative isconveyed fromtheimpliedauthorto tells animaginaryor invented story.The most common genres use tocommunicate relevantmeanings toeachotherthrougha narratology, makes a key distinction betweenmakes akey narratology, discourse(how (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305920 , 78:307(1965),3–20. Narratology: Introduction to the Theoryof Narrative Narrative The OpenWork The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in ProseFiction from (Toronto:University ofTorontoPress,2002), Writing Fiction: to NarrativeA Guide Craft , ed. by Susan Sontag, trans.byStephenHeath(London, UK: Basic Elements of Narrative The Rhetoric of Fiction (Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkins University Press, 1995). The Cambridge IntroductiontoNarrativeThe (London,UK:Routledge,2014). https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226616728.001.0001 One Hundred Famous Haiku Hundred One Literary Discourse: A Semiotic-Pragmatic Approach Discourse: A Literary (Cambridge,MA:Harvard University Press, 1989). Reading NarrativeFiction Story andDiscourse:Narrativein Fiction Structureand

References (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816932 (Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell,

(Tokyo: Japan Publications, (Tokyo:Japan (New York, NY: Macmillan, (Chicago,IL:Universityof The Journal of The American (Cambridge,UK: (Toronto, CA: https://doi. A Roland

Manguel, Alberto, Lodge, David, Onega Jaén,Susana,andJosé Angel GarcíaLanda,eds., Stam, Robert, (London, UK:Routledge,1996), NY: Viking, 1993). Film Theory: An Introduction The Art ofFiction: IllustratedfromClassicandModernTexts A HistoryofReading https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315843018 (NewYork, NY:Penguin Books,2014). (Malden,MA:Blackwell, 2000). Narratology: An Introduction Narratology: An (NewYork,

1. Introduction 15

‘plot’ ( what precisely areevents?what constitutes asequenceofevents?And what defined discussions that have plaguedthefield. In the © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 presented inthe of confusion,derived‘story’ isusedatthesametime fromthefactthat of thetwentieth century, theRussian formalists recovered thisconcept of asequenceevents,time andcause.But meaningfullyconnectedby key conceptual distinctionbetweenkey to storyandplot,whichhasbeenkey Does itmatterwhethertheconnectingthreadthatmakesupsequence as agenerictermfornarrative andasatechnicalterminnarratology.For distinction betweenand establishedakey the‘story’( achieve abetterunderstandingof the structureand function of narratives. Weclarity. more confusionthan sometimes bring and theoriesthat will the purpose of this textbook, wepurpose ofthistextbook, the willobviatetheseproblemsandsimply these termshascreatedandcontinuestocreateaconsiderable amount that itwas the most important elementof storytelling. that we willtrytountangleinthischapter. integrate thisimportantdistinctionintothesemiotic model ofnarrative is timeorcause,perhapsboth?Thesearesomeoftheessentialquestions struggled withthem for some time and has come up witha rangeof terms not delveendless terminological or the complexities oftheory hereintothe See 1 Aristotle, 2 3 The concept ofplotdatesalltheway backto Aristotle (Fig.2.1),who To be sure, they are not easyquestions to answer. Narratology has Viktor Borisovic Sklovskij, 1991). 2009), previous chapter szujet mythos Handbook of Narratology https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110316469 ) ofanarrative. Poetics asthearrangementor‘organisationofevents’ andargued previous chapter , trans.byMalcolmHeath(London, UK: Penguin Books,1996),p.11. , we defined narrative asthesemiotic representation Theory ofProse , ed. by Peter Hühn(NewYork, NY: Walter de Gruyter, 3 IntheEnglishlanguage,translationof 2. Plot . (Elmwood Park, IL:Dalkey Archive Press, 1 Butwe do need to introduce the

https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.02 2 At the beginning fabula ) andthe

2. Plot 17 Prose Fiction 18 (2006), PublicDomain, by Lysippos from 330 BC. Ludovisi by Lysipposfrom330BC.Ludovisi Collection, photograph by Jastrow Collection, photographbyJastrow copy after a Greek bronze original copy afteraGreekbronzeoriginal wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aristotle_ Bust of Aristotle. MarbleRoman As we pointed out earlier, thestoryis the message that the narrator We candefinenarrative events as changesofstateoccurringinthe communicates to thenarrateeinanarrative. Inthissense,itreferstoaset First, we willdiscuss more precisely the distinction between storyand plots. Finally,we willdiscuss twoimportantmechanisms of emplotment a five-stagepresent narrativefound inmany can be structure that general plot, clarifyingwhatwe understandbyan‘event’ andthedifferentways of thewriterandhisreaders or animaginaryworld that hasnever actually of events happeninginanalternative world, which we callthestoryworld. applied to a story when arranging itinto a plot. By arranging events in a at themechanisms of emplotment,thespecificoperationsthatcanbe at the microlevel,at writers suspenseandsurprise, whichareoftenusedby are motivatedand leadto or internal, byaconflict,whichcanbeexternal end, these mechanisms can result inmanykinds of plot. We willlookata few ofthese,whicharequitecommoninprosefiction.Mosttheseplots to engagereadersandhookthemthenarrative. in whichtheevents ofanarrative canbeconnected.Thenwe willlook meaningful and coherent structure thathas a beginning, a middle, and an storyworld. some form of resolution. We willlookatthis‘story as war’ analogy and 4 David Herman,‘Events andEvent-Types’, in ed. by David Herman, Manfred Jahn, and Marie-Laure Ryan (London, UK: Routledge, 2005), pp.151–52, Altemps_Inv8575.jpg https://commons. 4 Such a world could be an accuratereflectionofthelifeworld Suchaworldcouldbe 2.1 TheThreadofNarrative Fig. 2.1 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203932896

Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory

, Another thingthatthenarrator coulddoistopresenttheevents ina And thisiswhat we call the story. Of course, the events in this story arealso This isanarrangementoftheevents accordingtotheirsuccessionintime. (2) Georgeslewthedragoninordertorescueprincess,(3) After killing we only have five events: (1) George rode to the lake,(2) George slew different order, without necessarily following their sequence intime.For necessarily followingtheir different order,without display thecausalconnectionswithcurved lines(seeFig.2.3). of event two).Butourarrangementdoesnotstressthoseconnections.It representing time(seeFig.2.2). rode away fromthelake,and(5)Georgeprincessgotmarried rode away fromthelaketofindsafetyinhercastle,and(5)Theprincess experiences, orthingsthathappentothemtheirenvironment. existed. Whatever thetruthfulnessof this storyworld, the events of the example, hecould begin bytellingthenarrateeabout(1) wedding the dragon,Georgerescued the princess,(4)Georgeandprincess the narratorcoulddo,forexample,istostresscausalconnections two comesafterevent one,event threeafterevent two, etc.). and theprincess princess, (4)George rescued the the dragon,(3)George the princess accepted George asherhusbandbytellinghow(2)George undertaken bycharacters,buttheycansimplybesituations,incidents, implicitly connectedbycause(forexample,event threeistheconsequence in thecastle.We candisplaytheseevents asmarksinahorizontalarrow married George tothankhim for rescuing her from the dragon.We can story insuch a simple fashion when tellingittothenarratee.Onething simply reflectswhentheevents happenedinrelationtoeachother(event story aresupposed to have happenedinit.Theseevents canbeactions between Georgeandtheprincess, and only thengoontoexplain why between theevents: (1)Georgerode to thelakelookingforprincess, Let us imagine a simplified story to clarifytheseideas.Inthisstory, Let usimagineasimplifiedstory It isunlikely,however, thatthenarratorwillarrangeevents ofthe Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.2 Diagram showing events interconnected by time only. By Ignasi Ribó, CC BY. Diagram showing events interconnected by time and cause. By Ignasi Ribó, Ignasi By cause. and time by eventsinterconnected showing Diagram CC BY.

2. Plot 19 Prose Fiction 20 We calltheactualarrangementofsequence of events bythenarratorof which is never accessed directly as such (either bythereader, the implied E. M.Forsterexplained, different ways (Fig.2.5).Thesuccession of events isnotthesameinall plots can also be much more complex and modify substantially the order plots canalsobemuchmorecomplexandmodifysubstantially of events, theirduration,ortheconnectionsbetween them. As the novelist reader, or the narratee).Whatwe read in a narrative is always a particular rode tothelakelookingforprincess, (3) slewthedragon,and(4) emplotment ofthestory. events intheirchronological succession, which would make theplot princess. Inthiscase,wethe with escaped tosafety wouldneedtoalter these retellings.Thenarrator mightbeginthetalewithapparitionof the story‘plot.’Emplotmentcaninvolve simplemodifications to the the representationofsequenceevents inthenarrative (seeFig.2.4). indistinguishable fromthestory.Infact,storyis onlyanabstraction, have simplified as an example in theprevious section, has been told in story, forexamplewhenthenarratortellsstory‘as it happened.’But be a story withoutaplot,even iftheplotis simply the presentationof Stories canbearrangedintomanykindsofplot. And therecannever 5 We have definedastoryas a narrative ofevents arrangedintheirtime- died, nooneknewwhy,untilitwas discoveredit was that grief through died, and then thequeendied of grief,’is a plot.The time-sequence is For instance,thestoryofSaintGeorgeanddragon, whichwe at thedeathofking.’Thisisaplotwithmysteryinit,formcapable If itisinastorywe say,‘andthen?’Ifitisinaplotwe ask,‘why?’ causality. ‘The king died, and thenthequeendied,’ is astory.‘The king preserved, but thesense of causality overshadows it. Oragain:‘Thequeen of highdevelopment. Itsuspendsthetime-sequence,itmoves asfaraway from thestoryasitslimitationswillallow.Consider the deathofqueen. sequence. A plotisalso a narrative ofevents, theemphasis falling on Fig. 2.4 E. M.Forster, p. 86. Diagram showing events interconnected by time and cause, with the order the with cause, and time by interconnected events showing Diagram Aspects oftheNovel of events alteredbyemplotment.ByIgnasiRibó,CCBY. 2.2 Emplotment (SanDiego,CA:HarcourtBrace Jovanovich, 1985), 5 All theseversions stemfromdifferentdecisions on thepartofauthors distress fromtheprincess.Someretellingsinvest muchtimerecreating communicated bythenarratortonarratee. process ofarrangingtheevents ofthestoryintoanarrative message others move directlytothefightbetween Georgeandthedragon.In and resultindifferentplotsofthesame story. We callemplotmentthe also beginwithGeorgeridingnearthelakeandhearingcriesof the conversation betweenmoment, while Georgeandtheprincessatthat to sacrificetheirchildrenappeasethebeast.Butnarratormight dragon thatpoisonsthelakeandforceskingdom the plague-bearing in othersthemarriage,whetherithappenedornot,isleftoutoftale. some retellings of the story, George marries the princess at the end. But the princess at marries the story, George some retellingsofthe 6 1. Emplotment involves five basic operations: 2. Based on Gérard Genette, University Press,1990). Duration ( Order describing akissthatlasted foronesecondintenpages). can modifythedurationofevents presented bythenarrator, life of a character in one paragraph) or expanding time (e.g. life ofacharacterinone paragraph) orexpandingtime(e.g. order inwhichtheevents arepresentedbythenarrator,for reflect theactualdurationofthoseevents in the story.Emplotment a strictchronologicalsuccession. Emplotmentcanmodifythe earlier (flashback)orlater(flashforward). in themiddleofstory at somepoint beginning example by for examplebycompressing time(e.g.tellingfiftyyears inthe in mediasres : Thesequence of events intheplotmayornotfollow : Thedurationoftheevents intheplotmay ormaynot ) andthenjumpingbacktoevents thathappened Narrative Discourse: An EssayinMethod 6 wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ ef/St_George_Royal19BXVII_109.jpg (1382). BritishLibraryRoyal 19BXVII, f. 109,PublicDomain, Fig. 2.5 Miniature ofSt.Georgeandthe Dragon, ms.of (Ithaca, NY: Cornell

Legenda aurea https://upload. , Paris

2. Plot 21 Prose Fiction 22 As pointedoutby Aristotle inhis Not every plotappliesallthese operations tothestory. As we have seen, an internalcoherencethat connectsbeginningswithendingsthrougha events ofthestorytoldby thenarrator. theoretical possibilities,whichwritersmayornot usetoarrangethe to thechronologicalsuccession ofevents. Theseoperationsaresimply it iseven possibletohave aplotthatdoes not modify or add causality havea middle,andanend. abeginning, meaningful andpurposeful development. Unlikeevents inlife,which some time, and finish at another point. Whathe meant is that plots have stating theobviousfactthatplotsstartatsome point, extendduring simply happen, without any coherenceorpurpose,emplottedeventssimply happen,without are 7 4. 3. 5. Aristotle, pp.13–14. Relevance Frequency Connection which causal connections need to beretainedfrom the narrative course, itwilldependonthereader’sto determine interpretation providing or withholding information relatedtothoseevents.providing orwithholding of explicit establishment the through narrator the presented by of informationpresentedarerelevant andfillinthegapsleftby or implicitcausalconnectionsbetween them.Ultimately,of actual connectionsbetweenor maynotreflectthe events the in occurred in thestory.Emplotmentcanmodifyfrequencyof Once again,thereaderwillhave tointerpretwhichofthepieces the narrator. the story.Emplotmentcanmodifymeaningofevents protagonist’s dailyworkroutineasoneexemplary the telling the samemurderfromdifferentperspectives) orcollapsing the sameevent severale.g. telling timesintheplot(repetition, the events presentedbythenarrator,forexamplerepeating is relevantthose events about story. Emplotmentcan inthe actual informationthat plot mayornotexhaustthe in the modify the meaning oftheeventsmodify the narrator by the presentedby may ornotreflectthenumberoftimesthatthoseevents set ofevents happeningonanygiven day). several events ofsimilarnatureintoasingleevent (iteration,e.g. beyond thebasicchronologicalsuccessionofevents. 2.3 Beginnings,Middles,andEnds : Similarly,theinformationaboutevents provided : The number of times that events: Thenumberoftimesthat arerepeatedinaplot : Theconnections between theevents intheplotmay Poetics , plots are generally arranged to , plotsaregenerally 7 But Aristotle was notsimply writers to arrange their stories. For example, Daniel Defoe’s classic without anymeaningor significance in thegeneralscheme of things. We closure ofabiographicalplot. quite naturaltous,accustomedaswe aretoseeourselves andother But biography is only one of the many kinds of plot that weBut biographyisonlyoneof themanykindsofplotthat findinnarrative. aged 82’) before theybecomeabeginningand an end,theopeningand an accountantduringmostofhislife,anddiedpeacefullyinownbed ends somewhereinthemiddleofRobinson’slife,whilepromisinga events intoaplot.Evenor deathareunconnectedevents, aperson’sbirth therefore, thatbiographicalplotshave oftenbeenusedbyfiction individuals ascoherentandmeaningfulentities.Itisnotsurprising, he spentasacastaway onaremotedesertisland. Although thenovel middle, intosomekindofnarrative (e.g.‘hewasin 1903,workedas born is no connected toformacoherentwhole.Inreallife,there meaningfully second part to the story, the organising principle of the plot is clearly or an‘ending,’unlesssomeone turnsthose such thingasa‘beginning’ novel need to emplotthose two events, togetherwithwhatever happensinthe biographical. birth andgoesontonarratehislifeadventures, includingthetime Since Aristotle, manytypologiesofplot(sometimes called masterplots) Biography, thenarrative of a person’s life, isa type of plot that seems Fig. 2.6 Robinson Crusoe il pg ad otat f oisn rse n h frt dto o Daniel of edition first the in Crusoe Robinson of portrait and page Title org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/The_life_and_Strange_Surprizing_ Defoe’s British Library, Ambre Troizat,CCBY-SA 4.0, Adventures_of_Robinson_Crosoe%2C_London%2C_1719.png The LifeandStrangeSurprizing Adventuresof RobinsonCrosoe (Fig. 2.6)beginswiththeeponymouscharacter’s https://upload.wikimedia. (1719).

2. Plot 23 Prose Fiction 24 Domain, wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Hansel-and- by Arthur Rackham(1909),Public Illustration of‘HanselandGretel’ https://upload.wikimedia.org/ can arrangetheevents oftheplot. capture certainrecurrentaspectsofemplotment,theycannever embrace orientation, andavoidturningthemintorigidnormative taxonomies, all possible narrativeall possible plots.Providedwethese typologiesasan take they can help us to betterunderstand the various ways inwhich narrators in popularnovels andshortstories,describedintermsofbeginnings, have beenproposed. middles, andends: hitpe Booker, Christopher 9 8 1. For example, the following are seven kinds of plot thatwe often find See SeymourBenjamin Chatman, Film 2004). Overcoming themonster children trytoescapefromtheforesthouseofawitch whohas of themonster.Forexample,in‘Hansel and Gretel’(Fig.2.7), force; itnarrates thefight out todefeatanevil(orthreatening) kidnapped themandintendstoeatthem. a Germanfairytalerecorded by the BrothersGrimm,two betweenthe defeat theheroandthismonster;itendswith gretel-rackham.jpg (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). Fig. 2.7 9 8 Whilethebestofthesetypologiesmightbeableto

The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories

: Itbeginswiththeprotagonistsetting Story andDiscourse:Narrative Structure inFiction and (London: Continuum, 4. 7. 2. 6. 3. 5. Adventures in Wonderland A modernexampleofthiskindplotisVladimir Nabokov’s A well-known example of this kindof plot is Charles Dickens’ The quest Tragedy Voyage and return Rebirth From ragstoriches Nights Comedy with thesuccessful completion ofthe quest.J.R.Tolkien’s who becomesrichandpowerful withthehelpofagenie. with her becoming wiser thanks to theexperience. An example controversial novel circumstances orproblems. An exampleofanovel withthiskind companions) settingouttoobtainanimportantobject;it quest torecover thetreasureguardedbyadragon. literature professorforatwelve-year-old girlleadshim to commit of thiskindplotistheMiddle Eastern folktale‘Aladdin of mistake or flaw that is the origin of a certain conflict; it narrates of mistakeorflawthatistheoriginacertainconflict; itnarrates of plotisJane Austen’s and the MagicLamp,’ often included in everything again(orloses and regainsitoncemore);ends example ofthiskindplot. enriched bytheexperience.LewisCarroll’sfantasynovel finds herselfinastrangeundergroundworld,iswell-known force hertochangelife; anditendswithhertransformation to do so, and perhaps with the recognition of his mistake or flaw. to doso,andperhapswiththerecognitionofhismistake orflaw. overcome;she needsto that home her return ends with andit Bilbo andhiscompanions setoutonadangerous the hobbit into anewpersoncapable ofovercoming thosecircumstances. how hetriestoovercome thisconflict;anditendswithhisfailure home for astrangeland;itnarratesthethreatsandadventures how shegoesontoacquirewealth andpower, butthenloses must overcome; anditendswiththehappyresolutionofthese successive transgressionsuntilhediesinprison. sisters enduphappilymarriedafterallsortsofcomplications. narrates howcertaincircumstances (normallyadverse ones) narrates thevarious circumstancesandproblemsthatshe novel narrates themanyobstaclesthattheymustface;anditends The Hobbit , whichtellstheadventures ofayoungandpoororphan : Itbegins with theprotagonistliving hernormal life; it : It begins with a protagonist who is affected by some sort : Itbeginswithaprotagonistwhoisaffectedbysomesort : It begins with a light and humorous protagonist; it : It begins with a light and humorous protagonist; it : Itbeginswiththeprotagonist(andmaybesome is a famous example of this kindof plot, where : It beginswiththeprotagonistdepartingher : Itbeginswithapoorprotagonist;itnarrates Lolita Sense andSensibility , where the sexual obsession of an aged , wherethesexualobsessionofanaged , where theprotagonistsuddenly One Thousandand , where the Dashwood , wheretheDashwood Alice’s

2. Plot 25 Prose Fiction 26 Attic red-figurekylix, 480–470BC.From (2009), captured at Museo Gregoriano (2009), capturedatMuseoGregoriano https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Vulci. Photograph by Juan José Moral Vulci. PhotographbyJuanJoséMoral Oedipus and the Sphinx. Tondo of an Oedipus andtheSphinx.Tondoofan File:Oidipous_sphinx_MGEt_16541_ Etrusco, room XI, Public Domain, Etrusco, roomXI,PublicDomain, ‘antagonist’ (meaning,onewhofightsagainstsomethingorsomeone). (Fig. 2.8),KingOedipusfaces a devastating plagueinhiscityofThebes which mayornotinvolve arecognitionorgaininknowledge for whether itisanothercharacterorsomenaturalsupernaturalforce,the cases, there isareversal of fortune( concept fornarrativewethe factthat canbegraspedby stillcallthe In the masterplots described above, themain characters (or protagonists) In the leading characterof a storyits‘protagonist’(meaning,onewho fights for overcome thisconflictandfindsomeformofresolution. thekernelof the plotseems to betheneed to or a flawinone’s character), a monster or a circumstance that poses a threat)or internal (e.g.a mistake are motivated toactbysome conflict. Whetherthisconflictisexternal(e.g. the protagonist( to theconflict (goes from fortune tomisfortune, as in tragedy). to fortune,as in comedy) and those where theprotagonistfalls victim the protagonistsucceeds in overcoming theconflict(goesfrom misfortune something orsomeone).We alsocallthemainenemyofthischaracter, 11 10 Ancient Greeksreferredtoconflictas

Aristotle, pp.18–19. Aristotle, pp.8–9. A ChristmasCarol after receivingthevisitofseveral ghosts. to partake in Christmascelebrations,becomesakinderperson to partake Poetics reconstitution.svg , Aristotle claimsthatplotscanbedivided into thosewhere Fig. 2.8 anagnorisis 2.4 ConflictandResolution

, whereoldScrooge,amiser who isunable ). 11 Forexample,inSophocles’ peripeteia agon ) andsomeformofresolution, . Theimportanceofthis Oedipus Rex 10 In both (reversal offortuneandrecognition)thattheculpritisnoneotherthan (conflict) andseekstofindthepersonresponsibleforspreading was originally conceived to describe the conventional emplotmentof dramatic playsinfive acts, conflict andmove forward tocloseorresolve thisconflict.Thisideahas and hasresultedintheviewthatallplotsareessentiallymotivated bya infection. A carefully crafted series of events lead Oedipus to discover in himself, havingunknowinglykilledhisfatherandmarriedown mother manyyears earlier. At theend, after hismother/wifecommits suicide, OedipusblindshimselfandisbanishedfromThebes. been formalised in the fiveformalised inthe been 2.9), which pyramid (Fig. stagesofFreytag’s 12 Aristotle’s description of tragic conflict and resolution, as exemplified utv Freytag, Gustav 1. Oedipus Rex 2. 3. Fig. 2.9 and Art Exposition Rising action Climax goals ofthecharactersandmotives thatwilldrive theplot. confrontation. Itisalsoa turning point,becausefromhereon characters, particularlytheprotagonist,areintroduced.Thereis reversals, adventures, etc.)that move theplotforward and always towards a higherdegreeofintensity.Innovels and short the conflictcanonlymove towards thefinalresolution. The the vicissitudesofplot. is revealed andprovokesaseriesofevents (confrontations, maximum level ofintensity andtheconflictreachesdecisive stories, this stagetends to bethelongest and includes most of no conflictyet, butwe mightgetindicationsabout theconflicting cea f rya’ prmd B Ins Rb, ae o Gsa Freytag, Gustav on based Ribó, Ignasi By pyramid. Freytag’s of Schema Freytag’s Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic Composition and Art , trans.byEliasJMacEvan (Charleston,SC:Bibliobazaar, 2009). , trans.byEliasJMacEvan (Charleston,SC:Bibliobazaar,2009),CCBY. : Thisisthepointwhererisingactionachieves its , hasbeentremendouslyinfluentialthroughouthistory : Inthisinitialstage,theenvironmentsand Freytag’s Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic Composition : Atconflict or internal) (external the some point, 12 butisoftenappliedtonarrative plotsaswell:

2. Plot 27 Prose Fiction 28 A novel thatseems to follow this model of plotisVirginia Woolf’s While perhapsnotascommon, therearealternative models ofemplotment This model,basedona‘storyaswar’ analogy,isoftenpresentedastheonly way toemplotastory.Whileitistruethatmanypopularfictionstories described asthe‘gladiatorialviewoffiction’: as birth,’wheretheplotismotivated, not byconflict,butthedesireand from the dynamic of conflict and resolution that author Ursula K. Le Guin from thedynamicofconflictandresolutionthatauthorUrsulaK.LeGuin follow thispatterninoneway oranother,thereareotherplots,particularly the struggletoariseandgrow,asinexperienceofmany livingthings. that reflecttheseotheraspectsofexistence.Onesuchmodel could be ‘story in modern and contemporary literature, that depart quite significantly in modernandcontemporaryliterature,thatdepartquitesignificantly 14 13

4. People are cross-grained, aggressive, and full of trouble, thestorytellers of theirstruggles.Buttosaythatisthestoryuse oneaspectof existence, conflict,tosubsumeallotheraspects,manyofwhich itdoesnot tell us;peoplefightthemselves andoneanother, andtheirstories are full include anddoesnotcomprehend. 5. Burroway, p.134. Quoted inJanetBurroway, 9780226616728.001.0001 IL: University ofChicagoPress,2019),p.133, Resolution Falling action way oranother,theclimaxhasalreadydecidedoutcomeof guilt, whichdecidestheoutcomeofconflict. climax isnotalways anexternalevent, suchasabattlebetween characters doaftereverythingis settledorfindanswers forthe provide asenseofclosure. outstanding questions. In prose fiction, thisstageoftentriesto overcome or submittoexistingthreatsandenemies.Inone reversalof one’sown recognition for examplethe offortune, and progressively leadtosomeformofresolution.Characters fighting. In the resolution stage, we might be shown what the the conflictand the fallingactionneeds to bringthesituation the protagonistand the antagonist.Itcan also be a more subtle they have foundsome way tosolve theirdisagreements,or motivated bytheconflict,buttheytendtowane inintensity shorter anddoesnotincludeasmanyevents astherisingaction. settle theirconfrontations,solve orabandontheirproblems, simply because they havesimply becausethey capacity tocontinue exhaustedtheir back toanequilibrium.Inprosefiction,thisstageisoftenmuch because theprotagonistorantagonisthave won,orbecause : Atsolved,conflict hasbeen end, the the either : Theevents thatfollowtheclimaxmightstillbe

Writing Fiction: A Guideto Narrative Craft 13 https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/ (Chicago, To The 14

( Lighthouse give them a newunderstandingoftheirworld and produceameaningful complete ourpresentationofplot. change intheirlives. that sudden momentsofillumination(epiphany) characters experience questioning thatprovides meaning and gives coherence to thewholeplot. Freytag’s pyramidorasimilarstructure).These mechanisms cross over in previous one, but also incorporating previous one,but of recognition Aristotle’s theory operate atthemicro level, particularlyas the events move throughthe of conflict.InJoyce’s collection ofshortstories, rising actiontowardsthe plotfollows theclimaxofplot(providedthat an artificialsenseofclosure(‘andtheylived happilyever after’). Even in events in theplot,butwhich cannot exist withoutthereader. It arises entertainment. Thus,openandambiguousendingsarequitecommon in ending thatbringsresolutiontotheconflictasunrealisticandonlyfitfor experience ofthecharacters,forexamplethroughcreative process from thegapbetween whatthereaderknowsfromprevious events fundamentally unresolvable. Manyauthorsseetheclassic idea ofan from ignorancetoknowledge, withouttheneedtoengage inanyform two importantmechanisms of emplotment,suspenseandsurprise,which these narratives, however, thereisoftensome form ofending.Whilethey the endofnovel. at Lily Briscoe undergoesbeforesheisabletocompleteherpainting that uses conflicttomotivatethe plot,itoftenpresents these conflictsas its plotismainlyarrangedbytheemergenceofemotions in thesubjective in theplotandwhatsheanticipatesisgoingtohappen next. illumination,’ wheretheprotagonistmoves from darkness to light, might leave manyquestionsunanswered attheend,itispreciselythis some wayswe fromstorytodiscourse,but needtodiscuss them hereto serious modern literature, which tendstoavoidprovidingthereaderwith serious modernliterature, So far,we havespeaking ofplotsatamacrolevel. been Butthereare anagnorisis 16 15 17 Yet anothermodel, somehow related totheorganicanalogyof the

Even whenmodern prose fiction follows the war analogyand Suspense isaphenomenonthatderives fromthearrangement of Irene Hendry,‘Joyce’sEpiphanies,’ Aristotle, pp.18–19. Teresa Bridgeman, ‘Time and Space,’ in https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 by DavidHerman(Cambridge, UK: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2007),pp.52–65, . Whilethisstorydoes not lackelementsofconflictortension, ) 15 andJamesJoyce’sconceptionofepiphany, 2.5 SuspenseandSurprise The Sewanee Review,

The Cambridge Companion to Narrative 54:3(1946),449–67. Dubliners 16 , forexample, 17 is‘storyas Inaway, it , ed.

2. Plot 29 Prose Fiction 30 When theevent foreshadowed never actuallyhappens,itiscalledared Using foreshadowing is generally enough to create suspense, and it is a enough tocreatesuspense,andit Using foreshadowingisgenerally discoversdetective’sthe is actually the killer that girlfriend,whohasbeen characters, oreven thenarrator.Forexample,readermightknowthat common techniqueinsomegenres,suchasmysteryandhorrorfiction. plot takesasurprisingnewdirection. her alibibeforemovingontomurderthedetective,preparing thewhole on theloose.Certainevents intheplotmightindicatethatkilleris keeping thereader always alert, not knowing whetherthe nextevent will knows. If something unexpectedhappens,thatis a surprise. When they readers. as well as the detective and his girlfriend, mightknowthatthereis a killer affect crucial kernels intheplotor alter thesituationof the maincharacters, emplotment cancreatethekindofnarrative tensionthathooksreaders to events to come, surprise is an effect of the reader’s ignorance. eventshints given through is calledforeshadowing. plot earlierinthe the bookandcompelsthemtokeepturningpages. the thrillofunforeseenrevelation. Forexample,ifthereadersuddenly the killerishidinginbedroomofdetective’s girlfriend,ashewalks the plotunfolds. unfolds, thereaderanticipatesfutureevents basedonwhatshealready unwittingly backhomeafterleavingheratthedoorofapartment. in away thatignitesthecuriosityofreader.Forexample,reader, herring, a technique that is sometimesemployeda techniquethat herring, tomisleadandsurprise her apartment, a strange midnightcall, etc.). The anticipation of future moving on to murder the detective’s girlfriend (a cigarette buttfound in stems from thecuriosityofreaderaskingherself‘andthenwhat?’as surprises are thekindoftwiststhatmakereaders gasp and experience be the confirmation of a suspenseful anticipation or an unexpected twist, 18 •

While suspensedepends on thereader’s knowledge (orsuspicion) of But suspensecanbecreatedsimplybyarrangingtheevents intheplot Suspense can beheightenedwhenthereaderknowsmorethan Suspense andsurprisecanworktogetherintheplottogreateffect.By Seymour BenjaminChatman, 1993), p.21. connection. temporal connection,eventshave intheplotgenerally a causal in time,whileplotisthearrangementofevents bythe narrator whentellingthem tothenarratee.Inaddition Story isthearrangementofevents according to theirsequence Reading Narrative Fiction Summary (NewYork, NY:Macmillan, 18 As the plot Aristotle, Herman, David,‘Events andEvent-Types,’ in Hendry, Irene,‘Joyce’sEpiphanies,’ Hühn, Peter, ed., Freytag, Gustav, Forster, E. M., Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Genette, Gérard, Burroway,Janet, Bridgeman, Teresa, ‘TimeandSpace,’in Booker, Christopher, Sklovskij, Viktor Borisovic, • • • • Theory 1985). 1993). Film Composition and Art Composition UK: Routledge,2005),pp.151–52, University Press,1990). Press, 1991). Chicago Press,2019), Continuum, 2004). 2009). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110316469 by David Herman(Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversityby Press,2007),pp. 52–65, While therearevarious ways to connect beginnings withends, while atthesametimedisprovingreader’s expectations Emplotment canengagethereaderbycreatinganticipation Emplotment is the arrangementof the events of the storyby Plots have aninternalcoherence that connects beginnings with rising action,climax,fallingandresolution. relevance, inordertomakeaplot. about future eventsfuture about suspense andforeshadowing, through ends throughameaningfulandpurposefuldevelopment. emplotment isoftenmotivated byafundamentalconflictor through surprise. tension thatmoves the plotthroughstagesofexposition, modifying theirorder,duration,frequency,connection,or (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). Poetics , ed.byDavidHerman,Manfred Jahn,andMarie-LaureRyan (London, https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 Aspects of the Novel , trans.byMalcolmHeath(London,UK:Penguin Books,1996). Writing Fiction: to NarrativeA Guide Craft Handbook of Narratology Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method Freytag’s Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic The SevenThe Basic Plots: WhyWe Tell Stories , trans. by Elias J MacEvan (Charleston, SC: Bibliobazaar, https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226616728.001.0001 Theory of Prose Reading NarrativeFiction Story andDiscourse:Narrativein Fiction Structureand References (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, The Sewanee Review, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203932896 (NewYork, NY:Walter2009), deGruyter, The Cambridge CompaniontoNarrativeThe

(Elmwood Park, IL:Dalkey Archive Routledge Encyclopedia ofNarrative

(New York, NY: Macmillan, (Chicago,IL:University of 54:3(1946),449–67. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell (London,UK:

, ed.

2. Plot 31

As we havetemporal dimensionisrepresentedinnarrative seen,the by characters (Fig.3.1). communicated to thenarrateebynarrator?Whatisrelationship © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 particular world.Inoursemioticmodelofnarrative, we distinguishthree of thestory,settingcanbeconceived asthemeaningfularrangementof of thequestionsthatwe willtrytoanswer inthischapter. readers usingonlywords?Thesearesome of thoseenvironmentsintheir of narrative environments with theotherexistentsof the story, characters and events? And how areliterarynarratives abletoinducementalimages take place arrangedinnarrative?take aspects ofthoseenvironmentsare What the spatialdimension? How aretheenvironmentswheretheseevents the plot,whichisanarrangementofevents inthestory.Butwhatabout types of existents in any given storyworld: events, environments, and the story’senvironments(spatialexistents). An existentinthiscontext is simply somethingthatexists,i.e.is the case or has being, ina If plot is the meaningful arrangement of theeventsarrangement meaningful If plotisthe (temporalexistents) Fig. 3.1 Relationships between existentsinthe storyworld. ByIgnasiRibó,CCBY. 3. Setting https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.03

3. Setting 33 Prose Fiction 34 All narratives involve the creationofaparticularworld, the world of the We willthenseehow literarynarratives usedescriptiontorepresentthe will allow us to present a typology with four major kinds of setting that will allowustopresentatypologywithfourmajorkindsofsettingthat ways toarrangeenvironmentsintoafictionalsetting:astopographical description can be used to encourage readers to read fictional stories as if description canbeusedtoencouragereadersread fictionalstoriesasif distinction between environments(space)andevents (time) in the chronotope. characters act. At afundamentallevel, environmentsarethemeaningful In the In reality,however,two thingsarenotsosimple.Ratherthanbeing Finally, we willdiscussthe notionofverisimilitude andshowhowliterary layout of natural and artificial things in space or as atmospheric relationships layout ofnaturalandartificialthingsinspaceorasatmosphericrelationships physicists call space-time continuum and literary theorists refertoasthe physicists callspace-timecontinuumandliterary realisation thatevents cannever happenseparatedfromspace,orrather a stagefilledwiththings(landscapes, buildings, furniture,etc.)where entanglements ofcharacterswiththeirownworld,oftenrepresentedin each other.Environments are more than justanobjective background,or from a particularplace.Infact,thedistinctionbetween space and time they were happeningin the ‘real’world. the worldofshortstoriesandnovels. We willthendistinguishtwobasic the storyworldarearrangedinnarrative. We willbeginbydefiningwhatwe the structureofnarrative. Actually, bothareintimatelyrelatedandoften the complex processes that make up our own lifeworld. Similarly, the understand by environment and the crucial role of environments in building understand byenvironmentandthecrucialroleofenvironmentsinbuilding intersect incomplexways. is only anabstraction,attempttountangleand better understand have seensomeofthecloseconnectionsthatlinkevents withcharacters. may befoundinprosefiction:irrelevant, functional,mental,andsymbolic. separate entities,spaceandtimeareintimatelyconnectedinwhat story orstoryworld,with its owntemporalandspatialexistents. setting andinduceinthereader’s mindavividimageofthestoryworld. storyworld shouldbetakenasanabstractiontohelpusunderstand narrative asthesubjective orpsychologicalaspectofsetting. between thosesamethingsandthecharactersofstory.Thisdistinction Similarly, environments and characters are also intimately connected with 1 2 And it isnotjustenvironments and events thatareinterconnected. In thischapter,we willdiscussinsomedetailhowtheenvironmentsof See DavidHerman, Mikhail M.Bakhtin, and Caryl Emerson(Austin, TX:University ofTexas Press,2011). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305920 previous chapter 1 InEnglish,we saythat‘events takeplace,’reflectingthe 3.1 TheWorldofNarrative Basic ElementsofNarrative The DialogicThe Imagination:FourEssays , whenanalysingtheprocessofemplotment,we

(Chichester,UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), , trans. by Michael Holquist , trans.by 2 Most Around theWorldinEighty Days War andPeace which isoftendescribed as the‘realworld,’ to build,withmoreorless giant insect(Fig.3.2).Butsingleenvironmentscanalsobequiteextensive London to Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Hong Kong,Yokohama,London toSuez,Bombay,Calcutta, SanFrancisco, different charactersevolve andinteract.Forexample,in Leo Tolstoy’s dungeons atHogwarts castleintheHarryPotternovels. discourse that usesourperceptionsandassumptionsaboutlifeworld, configurations of space and time that may defy any aspect of common Petersburg.But otherenvironmentsarealsoimportantforthenovel’s Franz Kafka’s plot, such as the locations of crucial battles like plot, suchasthelocationsofcrucialbattles Austerlitz, Smolensk,or objects orstructuresthatcharactersmayinhabitmove through. or sciencefictionmakemuchuseofthisworldbuildingcapacity often, thisworldisvery similartoourownlifeworld.Thingsappearand Borodino. adventure andtravel narrative, where themovement through different are twomainenvironmentswherethestoryunfolds, Moscow and Saint and include various spaces, like thedifferentchambers, corridors, and animals, buildings, rooms, furniture, and any othernaturalorman-made arrangement ofthedifferentexistentsstory. accuracy, theworldofstory. environments isthefundamental driver oftheplot.InJulesVerne’s even nonfictionbooks,also create theirownstoryworlds through the from ourown.Inascience-fictionshortstory,forexample,thepebble that seem to ruleourworld.Theyarealternative orpossibleworlds, pond mightreboundandflyoutto the characterthrowsinto that throws apebbleintopond,thebouncesfewtimes and then is everything thatsurrounds the characters, including landscapes, trees, might be quite limited in scope, like the room where the protagonist of room wheretheprotagonist the limited inscope,like quite be might story thatcontributemoredirectlytoworldbuilding. An environment sense oroureveryday experience. space. Storyworldsarenotnecessarilyboundbythesamephysicallaws sinks inthewater. Thisiswhatwe callrealism,aprincipleofnarrative narrative. Butmorerealisticgenres,such as romance,thriller,orcomedy, behave justastheydoinoureveryday experience.Whenacharacter ai-ar Ryan, Marie-Laure 3 There are also short stories and novels, particularly inthegenresof In most narratives, environments tend tobetheexistentsof the Many novels takeplaceinavariety ofenvironments, where the But theworldcreatedbynarrative discourse can alsobevery different Some stories takeplaceinasingleenvironment.This environment (Bloomington, IN: IndianaUniversity Press,1991). , avast chronicleoftheNapoleonicwars inRussia,there The Metamorphosis Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory , forexample,PhileasFogg travels from becomestrappedafterturningintoa 3 Fictiongenreslikefantasy,horror,

3. Setting 35 Prose Fiction 36 media/File:Kafka_Verwandlung_016.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Franz Kafka’s Category:Kafka_Die_Verwandlung#/ Cover ofanearlyGermanedition Verwandlung way oranother.This is whatwe callthesettingofstory,whichmight Environments canberepresentedtopographically,as anarrangementof can includebuildings,walls,machines, tools, doors,windows,furniture, characters, butsimplybackgroundelementsofthestory. Artificial things can include clouds, mountains, paths,trees,plants,flowers, rocks, rivers, comprise anarrangementofobjectsandlandmarksinspace(topography) New York, andbacktoLondon,inahecticadventure-filled journey lonely houseinthehillsoramultiverse withmanydifferentgalaxies, prose fictionneeds to arrangeandrepresentthoseenvironmentsinone or interior. or amoresubjective experienceofplace(atmosphere). and many otherman-made objects and structures. What matters ina are not animals, andsoon.Theycanalsoincludepeople when they topography isthequalityof allthesethingsandthespatialrelationships motivated byawager. natural and artificial objects or things laid out in space. Natural things and artificialobjectsorthingslaidoutinspace. Natural natural between them,whichdefinethe particularfeaturesofagiven landscape Whichever environmentsmakeupthestoryworld,whetheritisa The Metamorphosis , 1915),PublicDomain, 3.2 TopographyandAtmosphere Fig. 3.2 ( Die

(Fig. 3.3). (Fig. As FrodoandhisfriendsapproachMordor,thenarrator often different environmentswithanincreasinglyoppressive atmosphere. description ofobjectsandspatialrelationshipsmighthelpthereaderto conceptualising itinlanguage. create inhermindavisualrepresentationofthestory’senvironment,but cultural conceptionof our own existence, one that sees humans as self- For example, in J.R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy trilogy less common in literary narrative,less commoninliterary least inapureform. at An objective particularly whenitreflects the emotions or subjective perceptions parallels thedistinctioningeographybetween ‘space,’theabstractand of characters.InCharles Dickens’ of fear,desolation,andeventhe grip thecharactersandtint insanitythat own environment. reliant individuals (or embodied souls) acting outtheirtemporal lives in aspect ofnarrative discourse, butitcanalsobeanelementofthestory, atmosphere oftheShire,anidyllic countrysidewithmeadowsandlittle story. characters ofthe a certainenvironmentinducesinoneormoreofthe experiences. Thedistinctionbetween topographyandatmosphere elaborate, moreor less naturalistic, but itis arranged and represented as farmhouses, where Frodo and theotherhobbitslive, is very differentfrom tone used by Pip, the narrator and protagonist, changes throughout the changes throughout narrator andprotagonist, Pip, the tone usedby their destination,thebarrenandominous Mordor, the darklandofSauron their associationwithcharacters’actions,thoughts,feelings,and the trueinterestofstoryliesinway charactersexperiencetheir the vast stagethatistheobjective world. undifferentiated extension of location, and ‘place,’ which emerges when if itcouldstandonitsown,onceallthecharactershaveare leftandthere interactions ofthecharacters,very muchlikeatheatrestagewhereevents in thestory,cancreatevariousan atmosphericeffects.Toneisgenerally highlights thecontrastbetween theseenvironments through thefeelings human beingsgive meaningtothatlocation,bothbyexperiencingitand more orless and charactersspeaktoeachother.Thisstagecanbe happen novel, providing atmospheric descriptions of the different environments narrator’s choice oflanguage,ashedescribes the differentenvironments natural andartificialthings,notastheystandontheirown,butin no more events totell.Topographic setting is thus relatedtoa certain iF Tuan, Yi-Fu 4 Atmosphere canalsoberepresentedbythetoneofnarrative. The We callatmospherethearrangementorrepresentationof While topographicalsettingis very common in film and drama, it is Topographies oftenserve asmerebackgroundsfortheactionsand In narrative, atmosphere can be represented through theemotions that of MinnesotaPress, 2011). Space andPlace: ThePerspective ofExperience 4 Great Expectations Great (Minneapolis,MN:University The Lordof the Rings , forexample,the , the

3. Setting 37 Prose Fiction 38 values. InJane Austen’s Zola’s novels are marked by themiserableday-to-dayexistenceof wealthand socialpositionallowed themtoenjoyaprivileged, ifnot dwell in contrast between differentsocialatmospheresinthesame narrative can cultural conventions andexpectationsoftheEnglishupperclasses, whose Not surprisingly,we tend tofindagreatvariety ofsettingsinprose lower classes in France,liketheshafts, railways, and shacks where miners like castles,countryhouses, and elegantsittingrooms are tintedbythe panorama ofnineteenthcenturyFrenchsocietydepicted inHonoréde Balzac’s sequenceofnovels any characterbutis rather a projection of dominant social and cultural arranged inmanyways, notably bymakingdifferentdecisions regarding always happy,lifestyle. Incontrast,theenvironments of some of Émile fiction. There is an almost inexhaustible number of environments where topographic andatmospheric description. the events ofaplotcantakeplace. And thoseenvironmentscan be he experiences,suchasthegloomyKentcountryside,mysterious marshes, thedazzlingcityofLondon,orgothicruinsSatisHouse. be apowerful instrument tocriticisesocialarrangements,asinthevast In some stories, atmospheredoes not stemfromthesubjectivityof Fig. 3.3 Germinal a o Mdl Erh te ats wrd f . . . oke’ novels. Tolkien’s R. R. J. of world fantasy the Earth, Middle of Map CC BY-SA4.0, (Fig. 3.4).Whenwe discuss theme, we willseethatthe https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_.jpg 3.3 KindsofSetting Pride andPrejudice The HumanComedy , forexample,environments .

characterisation. Below, we presentaclassification of setting based on others arearrangedbycombiningdifferentkindsofsetting. fall squarely into any of thesecategories. into any fall squarely environments ofmany And the the relativethe and atmosphere,aswell importanceoftopography ason havelike theonesthat typologies ofsetting proposed forplotor been taken asanorientation.Therearemanystorieswhosesettingdoes not the connectionsbetween theenvironmentsandotherexistentsof story, events and characters. Once again, this typology should only be Such diversity hasprevented narratologicaltheoryfromcomingupwith 1. 2. Fig. 3.4 Functional Irrelevant development ofcharactersorthe unfoldingofevents. The conscious or affected bysettinginanyway. Rather,theyseem or atmosphere,andthecharactersdonotseemparticularly kind of setting can be found inSamuel Beckett’sexistentialist kind ofsettingcanbe rare in prose fiction, but it isapossibility.Oneexample ofthis rare inprosefiction,but atmosphere. Butatmospheric descriptioncanalsobeusedwhen even behave asdisembodied minds. Irrelevant settingisquite to move throughaneutralandfeatureless space. They might it serves tosupportplotorcharacterisation.Popular novels often story. Descriptions tend to emphasise topography rather than story. Descriptionstendto emphasisetopography narrator providesonlythe informationneededtosustainthe novel narrator provides minimal ornoinformationabouttopography i N. 0 f h Cmane e mns e éhn, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Béthune, de mines des Compagnie the of 10 No. Pit File:Sains-en-Gohelle_-_Fosse_n%C2%B0_10_-_10_bis_des_mines_ France (ca.1910),PublicDomain, The Unnamable : Settingdoes not mattermuch for thestory.The : Settingispresentedinordertosupportthe . de_B%C3%A9thune_(B).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

3. Setting 39 Prose Fiction 40 Unlike movies, literary narratives cannotrepresentsettingdirectly. As the description oftheenvironment,sometimes nothing morethanan characters. Narrators inprosefiction mayprovideonlyaminimal Potter’s novels willimagineHogwarts intheirown particularway (Fig. Fumbling for the light switch, thedetectivefor thelight Fumbling saw thatthewindowofhis rests onreaderstorecreateintheirownimaginationthoseenvironments a gunathim.’Butnarrators canalsorepresenttheenvironmentwithall environment based on the interpretative and framing decisions made by the movie’sdirectorandcrew. indication: ‘Thedetective arrived homeandfoundhisgirlfriendpointing iconic representation of the environments where thestorytakesplace. It 3.5). This is not thecase for spectators of the film adaptations, allof whom sorts ofparticularandsensory details:‘Thehousewas darkandcold. see on thescreenexactsamesetting, avisual recreation oftheliterary story isconveyed exclusivelycan benovisualor words, there through bedroom was wideopen.Hedidnotremember havingleftitopen.The Thus, everybased onthedescriptionsfoundintext. readerofHarry 4. In general,adescriptionistextthatrepresents environments or 3. Virginia Woolf’smodernistnovel Mental Symbolic (e.g. reflectingorcontrastingthepersonalityofcharacters), with plot(e.g.foreshadowingfutureevents), characterisation gothic horrorstory‘TheFalloftheHouseUsher’ providesan give prominence to otherelements of story or discourse, by characters, as akindofinnerexperienceorlandscape of themind. of the reader. An example of this kindof setting can be found in Most descriptions are heavilyatmospheric, but topography Brown’s bestseller are closelyintegrated.Thisisthekindofsettingthatoften and a particularenvironment. Symbolic setting mightberelated example ofthiskindsetting. relationship betweena meaningful establishing theseelements theme (e.g.representingabstractideas).Edgar Allan Poe’s used in dramaticandpsychologicalfictiontohighlightthe use this kindofsetting,layingoutspace as a multidimensional inner life of the main character and heighten theidentification might also be used occasionally. Setting and characterisation stage forthedevelopment oftheplot.OneexampleisDan : Settingispresentedfromtheperspective ofonethe : Setting is presented in order to call attention or The DaVinci Code 3.4 Description Mrs Dalloway . . ‘narrative’ aspossible.But descriptionsarealreadynarrative. Theyallow whispering from the deepest corner of the room. The light blinked andhe whispering fromthedeepestcornerofroom.Thelight characters andevents move forward, asinErnestHemingway’s short carpet and left adarkstainonthebedsheets.Heheardfamiliarvoice curtains flappedagainstthepalemoonlight.Therainhadsoaked In thisway,to therecreationof storyworldinthe contribute they of the plotordevelopment of character, which are supposed to be a tapestry(seeFig.3.6),asinMarcelProust’sseven-volume novel the as neededtofixthesettinginmindofreader whileletting are often encouraged to avoid lengthy descriptions and to make them as environments, whicharebasicexistentsofthestory, toberepresented. the presentationofsignificant detailsabouttheenvironmentbeing the fundamentalcomponentsofstory.Thus,inexperiencedwriters imagination ofthereader. of Lost Time stories and novels. Butthey canalso be long,meticulous and intricatelike saw thegunpointingathim.’ become asrelevant forthestoryascharactersorplot,ifnot more. by readers or critics. Some argue thatthey aretoostaticand halt theflow Whether it islongorshort,aneffectiveWhether requires descriptionusually Descriptions canbesharpandquick,usingonly as manywords environment arenotalwaysDetailed descriptionsofthe appreciated , whereenvironments,more thanbeingmerebackground, Wizarding WorldofHarryPotter, com/photos/mbecerra/6402825573 Potter andtheForbiddenJourney Universal StudiosIslandsof Adventure Hogwarts Castleintheride Fig. 3.5 Becerra, CCBY2.0, Orlando, Florida.Source:Marcos

In Search https://www.flickr. Harry atThe

3. Setting 41 Prose Fiction 42 canvas byJanVermeer, PublicDomain, The Art ofPainting (1666–1668),oilon wiki/File:Jan_Vermeer_-_The_Art_of_ Painting_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/ Apart from significant detailsthat connect thedifferentexistentsof details aresignificantwhentheyreveal thecharacter’s emotionalor described. A detailmaybesignificantfordifferentreasons.Forexample, providing themwithvivid, concrete, andspecific details aboutthestory’s perceptive connection with theenvironment.Ortheycanbesignificant allow readers to recreatethesettingofstoryintheirimaginationby environments. environment and the events of the story.Details can also be significant fiction are often filled with insignificant or‘uselessdetails.’ fiction areoftenfilledwith for thereader.Inthissense,acrucialaimofnarrative discourse is to for thedevelopment oftheplot,byrevealing theconnectionbetween the story and help the reader to imagine the setting, descriptions inprose setting, reader toimaginethe story andhelpthe oad Barthes, Roland 6 5 and reportthedetailsthatmatter.Theirwordscalluppictures. If thosewhohave studiedtheartofwritingareinaccord on anyonepoint, is by beingspecific, definite and concrete. The greatest writers it isonthis:thesurestwayof thereader toarouse andholdtheattention Dante, Shakespeare —areeffective largelybecausethey dealinparticulars William Strunk and E. B. White, 1989), p.142. 1999), pp.30–31. Fig. 3.6 The Rustle of Language Rustle The

3.5 Verisimilitude The Elementsof Style (Berkeley, CA: University (Berkeley, of California Press, (Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 6 Forexample, 5 — Homer, what happens withMadame what Aubain’s barometer?Shouldwe conclude distracts usfromthestory? If yousayinthefirstchapterthatthereisariflehanging onthewall, in playwright the In hisletters, Anton Chekhovfamouslyrecommended less clear. It does not seem to bea necessary element of the environment particular thenecessary connection with theplot,throughsymbolismand Madame Aubain’s houseashaving,amongstotherthings,anoldpiano known as ‘Chekhov’s gun,’ stresses the functional role of setting, and in known as‘Chekhov’sgun,’stressesthefunctionalrole ofsetting, aspiring writersto‘remove everythingthat hasnorelevance tothestory. and does not play anyrole in characterisation or emplotment. So, what is atmosphere ofatypicalbourgeois home, the functionofbarometeris and abarometer(Fig.3.7).Whilethepianomightbetheretorecreate foreshadowing, ofsalientelementsintheenvironment. Ifthisisthecase, that Flauberthasindulgently presentedanunnecessary detail thatonly there.’ fired, itshouldnotbehanging to be the secondorthirdchapteritabsolutelymustgooff. Ifitisnotgoing in Gustave Flaubert’sshortstory‘A SimpleHeart,’thenarratordescribes it doingthere? 7 ValentineTschebotarioff Bill, Philosophical Library,1987). Chekhov: The Silent VoiceofFreedom Chekhov: The Fig. 3.7 Domain, Drawing ofawall barometer,Public

https://pixabay.com/p-1297523 7 Thisdramaticprinciple, (NewYork, NY:

3. Setting 43 Prose Fiction 44 when theyaretrue,canstillfailtobeverisimilarseem unbelievable ifthey Just asourownrooms and offices are filledwithobjectsthatserve no characterisation, butsimplytoreinforcetheverisimilitude ofthestory. call nonfiction a story that claims to be true. But nonfictionnarratives,true. claims tobe call nonfictionastorythat even purpose, addingthese‘useless details’ tothesettingwouldencourage often foundinliterarydescriptions, might justfunctionasareminderthat Madame Aubain’s barometer,likeotherinsignificantdetailsofsetting readers to willinglysuspend their disbelief the storyworld‘asif’itwere therealone. the environmentrepresented,whilebeingfictitious, could be arealone. to readers. Similarly, fictionalstories, which do not pretendtobetrue, that looks as ifitcould be true,regardless of whetheritistrueornot.We imitation orrepresentationofthe‘real’world. A verisimilar storyisone plot, or is there,nottoperformanyspecificfunctionforsetting, may ornotseemtruetothereader(Fig.3.8). narrative discourse toconvincereadersthat thestoryworldisafaithful 9 8 • According to Barthes, one possible explanation is that the barometer is that According toBarthes,onepossibleexplanation Verisimilitude (from the Latin ‘truth-likeness’) is the attemptby Fig. 3.8 Schemaofverisimilitude infictionandnonfiction.ByIgnasiRibó,CCBY. Barthes, pp.141–48. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Opinions University Press,1984). All narratives buildanalternative storyworld,whichincludes, events takeplace. environment iseverything thatsurrounds characters, wherever besides otherexistents,oneormoreenvironments. An , ed. by James Engell and Walter Jackson Bate (Princeton,NJ:Princeton Biographia Literaria, or,Biographical Life Sketches ofMyLiterary Summary 9 andsubmergethemselves in 8

Tuan, Yi-Fu, Herman, David, Ryan, Marie-Laure, Coleridge, SamuelTaylor, Bakhtin, MikhailM., Bill, Valentine Tschebotarioff, Barthes, Roland, Strunk, William, andE.B.White, • • • • (Bloomington, IN:IndianaUniversity Press,1991). Life andOpinions University ofMinnesotaPress,2011). Press, 1989). Holquist andCaryl Emerson(Austin, TX:University ofTexas Press,2011). Princeton University Press,1984). Philosophical Library,1987). 2009), Bacon, 1999). Writers represent setting by providing longorshortdescriptions, by Writers representsetting The arrangementoftheenvironmentsstoryiscalled which often include significant details that associate In prosefictionwe canidentifyfourbasic kinds of setting: Descriptions canalsoincludeinsignificantdetailsaboutthe relationships between thingsandtheactions,experiences, emotions, orthoughtsofcharacters(atmosphere). environment in order to create an effect of reality and enhance environment inordertocreateaneffectofreality environments withcharactersandevents, whilehelpingreaders things inspace(topography)orestablishingmeaningful the verisimilitude ofthestoryworld. to recreatethemintheirimagination. irrelevant, functional,mental,andsymbolic. setting, which mayinvolvesetting, out artificialandnatural laying https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305920 Space andPlace:Perspective The ofExperience The Rustle ofLanguage The Basic Elements of Narrative , ed.byJamesEngellandWalter JacksonBate(Princeton,NJ: Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, andNarrative Theory The DialogicThe Imagination: Four Essays Biographia Literaria, or,Biographical Sketches of My Literary Chekhov: The Silent Voice of Freedom References The Elements ofStyleThe (Berkeley,CA:University ofCalifornia (Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell,

(Boston,MA: Allyn and (Minneapolis,MN: , trans. by Michael , trans.by (NewYork, NY:

3. Setting 45

The Sorrowsof Young Werther Virgin Suicides The worldsofprosefictionarenotonlymadeevents arrangedinto I, Robot Bovary (e.g. Thebans in (e.g. character, therefore,we willassume that thecharacters of thestoryare © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 plots andenvironmentsarrangedintosettings.Inordertohave astory, of thequestionsthatwilloccupyusinthislastchapterdedicated to the animals or otherentitieswithouthumanfeatures(e.g.thewhitewhale nonhuman animalsorotherentitieswhobehavealso be likehumans(e.g. and novels.nature andfunction This seemstobeaconsequenceofthe elements ofstory. to actintheenvironmentsofstoryworld.Charactersaremostoften characters. Thearrangementofcharactersinthestory there mustalsobe their protagonists,such as the propernamesoftheirmaincharacters(protagonists). Theseare the titlesofmanyshortstoriesandnovelsthe factthat from aretaken to thisrule. the WhiteRabbitin there aresome special cases where we find collective or choral characters they arestill the most relevant existentsin a great majority of short stories in individuals (e.g.Ivan Karamazovin is calledcharacterisation.Butwhatarecharacters?Whytheyso history ofliterature.Some of themostfamous novels arenamedafter human orhuman-likeindividuals,althoughthereare notableexceptions sometimes called eponymouscharactersandarevery frequentinthe characterised andrepresented?Thesearesome stories? Howarethey necessary fornarrative?kinds ofcharactersdowe What findinfiction Moby Dick A character is any entity in thestorythathasagency,is,whoisable A characterisanyentity That charactersareimportantfornarrative fictioncanbeseenfrom , or ). Onlyexceptionallyarethecharactersofshortstoriesandnovels Anna Karenina , or the aliens in ). Charactersaremost often humanbeings,buttheycan Oedipus Rex 4. Characterisation Alice in Wonderland . Even whencharactersdonotappear inthetitle, Don Quixote , or Henry Jekyll in , or the group of neighbourhoodboysin group , orthe 2001: A Space Odyssey The BrothersKaramazov , Robinson Crusoe —Figure 4.1ortherobotsin

Dr Jekyll and MrHyde https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.04 ). In our discussion of , Jane Eyre , Werther in , Madame ), but The

4. Characterisation 47 Prose Fiction 48 Public Domain, org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_ Wonderland#/media/File:Alice_par_ Illustration ofLewisCarroll All theexistentsofstoryareequallyindispensabletorecreation (flat vs.roundcharacters), as well astheirdegreeof personaldevelopment way forushumanstogive meaningtoourownworld. And whatismore changes whenwe analyse thematthelevel ofnarrative, discourse, or communication between authorsandreaders. characterisation, plot,andsettingneedtoworktogether inorder to of narrative. As we sawinthe introduction,narrative isfundamentallya of aconvincingstoryworld,justastheyareinourownlifeworld.Thus, representing theminnarrative: indirectanddirectcharacterisation. An realistic terms,itiscommon todistinguishtheirdegreeofindividuation effectivelysustain narrative to meaningful discourseandcontribute existents ofthestory,events andenvironments(see fully individuatedcharacters,butvery often also produces typicaland typologies of character, we will discuss the most common approaches to the plot(staticvs.dynamiccharacters). throughout at these After looking that characterisationinprosefictionisgenerallyaimed atconstructing universal characters.When analysingfictionalcharactersinpsychological/ important forusthanourselves andotherentitieslikeus? 3 story. We will then consider the notion of individuation in order to show not forgettheintimateconnections between characters and theothertwo Wonderland ). Storiesarenotsimplymade of characters acting inanenvironment. While recognisingtherelevance of characters in narrative, we should In thischapter,we willstart bydiscussing how thenatureofcharacters (1865).ByJohnTenniel, John_Tenniel_02.png

https://en.wikipedia. Alice in Fig. 4.1

Fig. 3.1,inChapter The nature of charactersvariesThe nature level dependingonwhat semiotic ofthe dependent on the narratorofstory(afigure discourse). But within level ofnarrative, charactersmaybeseenasfigmentsoftheauthor,who Rowling’s novels, heisaheroic andcharismatic young wizard,witha person intheworldofitsreaders.But,storyworld createdbyJ.K. of whichwe maynever hear. might notbe,nor couldeverown lifeworld.Thus,HarryPotter a real be, or observations,readers inevery whicharethenrecreatedby reading. At relationships, feelings, desires and thoughts, just like anyof us in our regarded as complete or limited to text-basedinferences. Here, we will are generallyagentsendowed withanidentity,socialandpersonal characters areendowedassume that complete withatleastapotentially alternative world,thestoryworld.Itisamatterofsomedebatewhether as analmostrealindividualformanyreaders,butatthelevel ofdiscourse actants with no life beyond thetextand no reason to existotherthan existence inthestoryworld.Ofcourse, this existenceisultimately certain featuresorqualitiesdrawnfromhisimagination endows themwith fulfil theirfunctionintheplot. from textual cues. the same importance. In J. K. Rowling’s fictional world, to continue the novels, but also, at leastpotentially,manyotherevents, bigand small, narrativethe confinesofstoryworldcreatedby discourse, characters the existenceofcharactersinalternative worldofthestoryshould be a sortof‘paperpeople’whosefeaturesareexclusivelytext, constituted the level ofdiscourse, however, we canseecharactersasaconstructofthe topic ofthelastsectioninthischapter. important methodofdirectcharacterisationisdialogue,whichwillbethe he issimplytheheroofanadventure storywhose‘life’ does not extend multifaceted life,whichincludestheadventures narratedin theplotsof model we positionourselves in(see story. At thatlevel, charactersmaybe seen as individuals who inhabit an beyond theevents narratedintheeponymousnovels. by thedescriptions found inthetextandinferences that canbemade 1 2 As existentsinthestoryworld,allcharactershave inprinciple Things lookdifferentwhenwe analysecharactersasexistentsofthe Algirdas JulienGreimasandJoseph Courtés, Uri Margolin, ‘Character,’ in Dictionary org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 Press, 1982),pp. 5–8. Herman (Cambridge,UK:Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 66–79, , trans.byLarryCristandDanielPatte (Bloomington,IN:Indiana University 1 Inthissense,characters are incompletecreatures,mere 4.1 TheActantsofNarrative The Cambridge Companion to Narrative 2 HarryPotter,forexample,mightappear Figs. 1.5 Semiotics and Language: AnAnalytical and Semiotics and 1.7 in Chapter 1 , ed. by David https://doi. ). Atthe

4. Characterisation 49 Prose Fiction 50 Angelina JohnsonorBerthaJorkins,onlyappearfleetinglyandplayminor Whether charactersarecentraltothestoryoronlyplayasecondary (the protagonist or hero) in the story, while the rest appear as secondary with the same example, Harry is not more important than Hermione Joseph Conrad’s distinctions amongstthecharacters,justasitdoesevents characteristics sowell definedthattheybecomeatleastasindividuated characters. Someofthesesecondarycharacters,likeHermioneorRon, Kurtz ischaracterisedwithmoredetailandnuance thanMarlow,the In principle,aprimarycharacterwillbemoreindividuatedthan like DracoMalfoyorDoloresUmbridge,arecastasantagoniststoHarry protagonist ofthestory. or indirectlyascribetothemcertaincharacteristicsproperties or traits: Granger orNevilleLongbottom.Butnarrative discourse,byarranging role, theircharacterisationgenerallyrequiresthenarratortodirectly and hisfriendsintheconflictsthatdrive theplotofnovels, even if, and environments.Thus,HarryPotterbecomesmuchmorerelevant events, environments,andcharactersintoaplot,necessarilyestablishes for theplottobealsoleastindividuated.Butthisrulehas,infact, that identifythemasindividuals.Thisiswhatwe callindividuation. than alltheothercharacters,takingonroleofmaincharacter under a different arrangement of events and environments,theymight in themindsofreaderasprotagonisthimself,ifnotmoreso.In have beencastinadifferentrole. have avery prominentrolenexttoHarry,whilemanyothers, like secondary one. And we canexpect the charactersthat are least relevant supporting rolesintheplot. A fewothercharactersfromthisstoryworld, notable exceptions.Itisnotuncommontofindsecondarycharacterswith 3 1. In general,individuationinvolves threesets ofdefiningcharacteristics Today, Uri Margolin,‘Individuals in Narrative Worlds: An OntologicalPerspective,’ Physical character istallorshort,slimfat,blue-eyed orbrown-eyed, or heartburn). are external and can be observed with thenaked eye (e.g. the fair ordark,malefemale,etc.Manyphysicalcharacteristics shape of the nose or a scar on the forehead), whileothers might nose orascaronthe shape ofthe be internalandthusdifficult toperceive directly(e.g.diabetes 3 11:4(1990),843–71. : These are the features of the body, suchaswhether the : Thesearethefeaturesof Heart of Darkness 4.2 Individuation , for example, the elusive ivory trader Poetics ‘individuals’ are actuallyclones or geneticreplicas of the same organism. The aimofindividuationistorepresentcharacters in such a way thatthey different fromourownlifeworld.Itispossible,forexample,toimaginea In suchacontext,thenotionofindividuationwouldlosemostits plausible andself-standingindividuals,endowingthem withadistinctive or areextrapolatedfrom our own world, it makessense to strive for or realisticfiction,afullyindividuated character should be endowed with kind of world in which we alllive. Of course, storyworlds might bevery are largelytheproductsof theindividualisticculturethatemergedfrom and distinguishotherhumanindividualsfrom each other.Given a setofperceptualandcognitive mechanisms that allowustoidentify and behaviouralcharacteristicssoas a particularsetofphysical,mental, appear, speak,and act like real individuals. In the contextof psychological the importanceofindividualityforourownsocial existence, itisnot to allow readers to imagine him or her as a person living in the same the EuropeanRenaissance (see individuality. We shouldnotforgetthatmodern novels andshortstories individuality incharacterisation. As socialanimals,we have evolved scientific andindustrialrevolutions, theexpansionofcapitalism,anda set ofcharacteristics. surprising that our narratives should attempt torepresentcharacters as sense. Thiskindoffiction,however,precisely difficult tocreate, isnotably storyworld whereindividualityasweand all does notexist understandit both writersandreaders. because individualityissuchacentralassumptionintheworldviewof As long as we stay within the boundaries of storyworlds that imitate, 2. Not allhumancultures, however, give thesameimportance to 3. Mental Behavioural (e.g. ambition),andcognitive (e.g.shrewdness). distinguish mental and behavioural traits, as they tend tobe as they distinguish mentalandbehaviouraltraits, powers ofobservation), emotivevolitional (e.g.excitability), or whisperswhenspeaking,laughseasilynever laughsat of aperson.Theymightincludetraitsthatareperceptual(e.g. or depressive, cruelorkind,dreamypractical,etc.These and interactingwithothercharacters. actions that characters undertake, including communicating is difficultto all, drinksoravoidsalcohol,etc.Sometimesit as whetherthecharacterispunctualorunpunctual,shouts traits composewhatiscommonlyunderstoodasthecharacter intimately connected.Behaviouraltraitsmayberelatedtoany such as whether the character is modest or arrogant, upbeat character ismodestorarrogant, such aswhetherthe : These are the features of personality or psychology, features ofpersonality : Thesearethe : Thesearethefeaturesofbehaviourorhabits,such Chapter 1 ), closely associated withthe

4. Characterisation 51 Prose Fiction 52 aka ElodieTihange,CCBY4.0, saga, madewithcharcoal,acrylics and watercolours. ByMademoiselleOrtie Fan artrepresentingLordVoldemort fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Lord_ Voldemort (Fig. 4.2), haveVoldemort (Fig. common incertainkindsof becomequite Typical characters (or simply, types) represent aparticularaspectof Typical characters(orsimply,types) globalised, narrative characters that arenotfullyindividuated seem to case. In mythical narratives, for example, the characters are not so much can beregardedasatype. characters, likethe‘mad professor,’ the ‘femme fatale,’ orthe‘wiseold lack something important, as if not being properly distinguishable from distinguishable properly as ifnotbeing lack somethingimportant, popular fiction. While these ‘villains’ might beindividuated to a certain prevailing individualismofmodernculture. philosophical conceptionofthehumanbeingasanisolated,autonomous, other characterswouldmakethemlessreal.Thishasnotalways beenthe Both typical and universal characters are still important in modern fiction, representing evil in a concentrated and simplified form, like Lord evil inaconcentratedandsimplifiedform,like representing although theirnatureand function has been somewhat modified by the and self-reflectingindividual.Inthisculture,whichhasnowbecome appearing inmanydifferentstoryworlds,theyaresaid tobearchetypes. extent, theyarenotsomuchindividuals as types.Manyothertypical to play secondary or supporting roles as stock characters. When types individuals astypes(e.g. immigrant,lawyer,nerd), a Chinese,gay, (e.g. the‘messenger’)individuals astypes oruniversals‘hero’). (e.g.the humanity oraparticulargroupofhumans.Forexample,characters man,’ can befoundinmodernshortstories and novels, wheretheytend and Nagini,fromtheHarryPotter simplification thathelpsus toclassify and groupthemintomeaningful become ingrained inthepsychologyand culture of a society and start . otr Abbott, Porter H. 4 In somerespects,every character,no matter how well individuated, University Press,2008),pp.129–31, Voldemort.jpg The CambridgeIntroductiontoNarrative Fig. 4.2 https:// 4

Even inreallifewe oftenperceive other https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816932 (Cambridge,UK:Cambridge

characters infiction,even thosethathave beenindividuatedwith the categories. This is the basis of prejudice and negative bias,butitis also an evolved mechanismtocopewithcomplexsocialinformation.Similarly, the typical adulterous woman, trying tobalancethesocialimperatives of of Gustaveeponymous protagonist the novel Flaubert’s utmost craft, cannot avoid being cast as types by readers. EmmaBovary,by cast astypes utmost craft,cannotavoidbeing is one ofthecharacters realist fictionthathas been characterised with marriage withherromanticlongings. (see Fig.4.3). more detailandsubtlety And yet, sheisoftenperceived as Fig. 4.4 ‘Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at a crossroad,’ oil on canvas. By Wilhelm canvas.By on oil crossroad,’ a Panzaat Sancho and Quixote ‘Don File:Wilhelm_Marstrand,_Don_Quixote_og_Sancho_Panza_ved_en_skillevej,_ Marstrand (1810–1873), CC0Marstrand 1.0, uden_datering_(efter_1847),_0119NMK,_Nivaagaards_Malerisamling.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ ‘Madame Hessel en robe rouge ‘Madame Hesselenroberouge wiki/File:%C3%89douard_Vuillard_-_ (1905).jpg Édouard Vuillard, Public Domain, Édouard Vuillard,PublicDomain, Fig. 4.3 lisant’ (1905), oil on cardboard. By lisant’ (1905),oiloncardboard.By Madame_Hessel_en_robe_rouge_lisant_ https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Madame Bovary ,

4. Characterisation 53 Prose Fiction 54 A certainnumberoftypologieshave beenproposedtoclassifyand Two ofthesetypologiesarestillused extensively bycritics and writers, There aretimeswhenfictionalcharacterssomehow able to distinguish analytically the kinds ofcharactermostoftenfoundinfiction. the distinguish analytically our ownlifeworld. of universal characters, representing two fundamental and contrasting all individuals in modern society, torn between reveries of plenitude and for amore 4.4). Similarly,inherdesperatelonging and materialism(Fig. attitudes towardsfound inhumanbeings:idealism lifethataregenerally even thoughtheirpsychologicalassumptionsonlymakethemapplicable fulfilling and authentic life, EmmaBovaryand authentic fulfilling of the alienation may represent form of universality. Universal characters represent ageneralaspectof their degreeofindividuation: to realistfiction,thatis,storyworldsattemptimitateorreplicate the unsatisfactoryrealitiesofeveryday existence. transcend theirindividualityandtypicalityinordertoattainsome humanity orthewholehumanspecies. For example,DonQuixoteand Sancho Panza, theprotagonistsofCervantes’ novel, have become a pair 6 5 1. The firstoneofthesetypologies E. M.Forster, See SeymourBenjaminChatman, Film Flat characters we would find characters with a single characteristic or trait, common. And some writers, likeCharlesDickensorH.G.Wells, constructed aroundalimitednumberoftraitsorcharacteristics. In genres like comedy oradventure,In genreslike characters arequite flat remembered by thereader.Because of theirlimited qualities, and purpose can often beexpressed by a single sentence. They characters canbea a messageatcertainpointoftheplot.Flat Of course,therearevarying degreesofflatness. At oneextreme, tend tolackdepthorcomplexityandareeasilyrecognisable and to whatwe have called types intheprevioussection,are human beings. Minor orsecondary charactersinfictiontendto human beings. have ahardtimeidentifying withthemortakingforreal however,artificial andmostreaders also tendtoseemquite they such asamessengerwhoseonlypurposeinthestoryistodeliver bit more individuated than that, but their identity, personality, more individuatedthanthat,but bit be flat,even whenthemain charactersinthesame story arenot. (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). Aspects oftheNovel 5 : These characters, which aresometimes equated 4.3 KindsofCharacter (SanDiego,CA:HarcourtBrace Jovanovich, 1985). Story andDiscourse:Narrative Structure inFiction and 6 distinguishescharactersbasedon 2. With well-crafted characterisation, round characters can appear Round characters with flatsecondarycharacters. An exampleofaflatcharacter different traits or characteristics,someofwhichmightevendifferent traits be characters withsuchnuanceandcomplexitythatthey appearto contradictory andcause them internalorpsychological conflicts. Hogwarts. Whileroundnessofcharacteristheaim many Karenina, areoftenround. are writers,likeGustaveAnd there Hogwarts, characterised almost exclusively byhis love for cats Flaubert or Jane Flaubert Austen, whotendtocharacterise even minor Robert Musil’s novelRobert realist and popular stories, in modernist and postmodernist and obsession with catchingstudentswhobreaktherulesof fiction, such as Emma Bovary, Rodion Raskolnikov, or Anna from theHarryPotterseriesis Argus Filch,thecaretakerof fiction thenotionofcharacter hasoftenbeenquestioned.In the maincharacterispresented asdevoidofanythosestable the story. An example of a round character intheHarryPotter human beingweto beascomplexandmultifacetedany might encounterinourworld.Majorcharactersrealist prose school (Fig.4.5). seemed quite inclined to populatetheirnovels and shortstories novels is Hermione Granger, oneofHarry’s closest friends at be round,even thoughthey mightnothave aprominentrolein : Thesecharactersareendowed withmany The Man WithoutThe Qualities The Making of Harry Potter. Source: The MakingofHarryPotter.Source: Warner Bros.StudioTour,London: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_ (7358054268).jpg Karen Roe,CCBY2.0, Fig. 4.5 Making_of_Harry_Potter_29-05-2012_

, forexample, https://

4. Characterisation 55 Prose Fiction 56 Another typology,alsobasedonapsychological-realistconception characters in terms of their ability to changeorevolvecharacters intermsoftheirability the throughout plot: of character and often confused with the previous one,distinguishes of characterandoftenconfusedwiththe 4.0, 1. 2. (2005), oilandmetaloncanvas. By ErikPevernagie, CCBY-SA https://commons.wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Man_without_ ‘Man withoutQualitiesn°2’ Static characters Dynamic characters whose limited characteristics undergo aradical transformation degree ofpersonalevolution orgrowthwhichtransforms characteristics, individual or typical,whichwould allow him change orpersonalevolutionfromthemomenttheyappearin Hermione, arefairlystatic,evolvingonlysuperficially from order totakeaccountoftheirgrowingupintoadulthood. although theseclassifications are basedondifferentvariables. It author has tried to add dynamism into their characterisation in their has triedtoadddynamisminto author example, most major characters, including Harry, Ron, and example, mostmajorcharacters,includingHarry, the plotuntiltheydisappear.Mostflatcharactersarealsostatic, to fitcomfortablyintothepreconceived patternsofmodern them intosomewhat differentcharacters at theendof their initialappearanceuntiltheendofseries,even ifthe throughout thewholenarrative. IntheHarryPotternovels, for is possible, although relatively unusual, to have a flat character in the story. More common is to have round characters that are significant changesasthe storydevelops, showingsome static, retainingthesame personality, identity,orcharacteristics bourgeois society(Fig.4.6). Qualities_n%C2%B02.jpg : Thesecharactersdonotexperienceanyprofound Fig. 4.6 : Thesecharactersundergo profoundand

Like environments,charactersinliterarynarrative needtoberepresented or drama. There are basicallytwoways to representcharacters in prose fiction: through words. They cannotbeshown directly totheaudience,asinfilm ae Burroway, Janet 7 1. 2. Chicago Press,2019), Indirect characterisation Direct characterisation where the length of the narrativeof the where thelength providesmoreopportunities depression, and othernegative ordestructive changes.Given different formsofcrisis,physicalorpsychologicaldegradation, characterisation areused. character seemmorerealistic.Inindirectcharacterisation, the connect characterstothesetting,plot,oreven thereader. confident andboldpersonality. In certain cases, some details in a character description might latter less moving andmemorablethanwhendirectmethods of plot. Thisevolutionis not always positive orconstructive, one of the few characters who undergoes a significant evolution one ofthefewcharacterswhoundergoesasignificant or heractions,words, looks, thoughts,oreffectsonother a short time. But, as aformof‘telling’(see a shorttime.But, advantageof conveying characters in a lotofinformationabout are manycaseswhereroundcharactersremainstatic.Inshort and thechangesexperiencedbycharactermayinvolve examples from the Harry Potter novels,examples fromtheHarryPotter NevilleLongbottomis their complexityanddepth,roundcharactersaregenerally the character,providingasubjectivegoes that interpretation long anddetailedor descriptions. Theycanbe to environmental throughout theseries, as he growsupand develops a more to showcharacterdevelopment and evolution. To continue with more able toexperience thiskind of dynamism, although there some distancebetween thereaderandcharacter,making the short andcursory. often relyonsignificantdetailsthat And they stories, dynamiccharactersarefarless common than innovels, narrator also tends to use commentary to qualify or evaluatenarrator alsotendstousecommentaryqualify narrator, whodescribeshisorherphysical,mental, beyond mere description. Indirect characterisation has the can servethey be unnecessaryorinsignificant,but tomakethe behavioural characteristics. Character descriptions are similar 7 4.4 RepresentingCharacters Writing Fiction: A GuidetoNarrative Craft https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226616728.001.0001 : Thecharacterisrevealed throughhis : Thecharacterispresentedbythe Chapter 5 Chapter (Chicago,IL:University of ), it creates ), it

4. Characterisation 57 Prose Fiction 58 voice and allows characters toappearmore like real people. Thereare But direct characterisation is generally preferred inmodernworksof But directcharacterisationisgenerally Both formsofcharacterisationareoftenusedinshortstoriesandnovels. remembered withtheacronymSTEAL. fiveare commonly usedin methodsofdirectcharacterisationthat fiction, asitdoes not requirethemediationofanintrusive narrative narrative: speech, thoughts, effects, actions, and looks. These can be easily 1. 2. Thoughts This kindofcharacterisationismorevividandeffective than Speech writers oftenusemoresophisticated techniqueslikefreeindirect words, assomeformofinterior speechormonologue.Modern without undertakingadescriptive summaryorevaluation of character basedontheinformationprovidedinnarrative. characters. Here, thenarratorsimplyrecords external orinternal constraining thenarratortorepresentwhatcanbe observed However, in many otherworksof fiction, bothclassical and language isthefundamentalsemiotic system thatwe humans plan, etc.)canalso help todefinetheir characteristics. Of course, or othercharactersinthestoryworld. of characterisation,asitcanbevery effective inrevealing on. Whenitinvolves aninteractionwithotherpeople,we call of ‘showing’(see required toparticipateintheconstructionofcharactersthrough except whentheytellus about it.This is the reason why some explicit andimplicitinformationaboutthecharactersengaged employ tocommunicate meanings, emotions,intentions,andso events relatedtothecharacter,includingwordsandthoughts, forward andprovideinformationabout events, environments, from the outside, but neverfrom theoutside,but the characters’minds. entering this dialogue.Inprosefiction,speechisawidelyused method their interpretations. also asksmorefromreaders,whoare indirect method.Butit the the character’s traits.Directcharacterisationis,therefore,aform in dialogue. At thesame time, speech can serve tomove theplot in ourlifeworld,we have noaccess to whatotherpeoplethink, most importantcomponents of directcharacterisation.Verbal modern, readersareallowed access to thethoughtsofatleast modern writers trytoavoid this method of characterisation, speech orinteriormonologue (streamofconsciousness) to to try some of the characters, which arenecessarily expressed in : Whatcharacters say and how they say it is one of the : Knowingwhatthecharactersthink(ordesire,want, Chapter 5 Chapter ). Itleaves thereadertointerpret ort Cohn, Dorrit 8 4. 3. 5. (Princeton, NJ:PrincetonUniversity Press,1988). Actions Effects Ulysses Looks gesturing, walking, running,etc.),buttheycanalsobepassive can be used to characterise, not just those characters (using convey thecomplex andfluidmentalprocesses of characters. In our lifeworld, appearance provides important cues about a laugh every timehesays or does something, readers will tend person’s social status, occupation, mental and physical state, part oftheplot,every actionisanopportunitytocharacterise others starewithdesire or interest,even withoutknowingwhat Molly Bloom’s interior monologue at the end ofJamesJoyce’s the monologue at Molly Bloom’s interior reflected inthefaceorbodyofcharacter(e.g.staring, also how we judge each other in life, not only by our words, accompanies andsupportsdialogue,isbasedonactions.Since actions ofteninvolve somekindofphysicalmovement (e.g. attentive to the impression people make on other people. For employedsame kindofinformation, typically toprovidethe eyeheight, skincomplexion,etc.),butalso colour,hairlength, effective characterisationtechniquebecauseitreplicateshowwe frowning, etc.).Nonverbal communication,whichusually through some form of description. In some cases, it canbe their way ofdressingorpresentingthemselves infrontofothers. them in one way or another in the mind of the reader. This is the charactersinfictionarealmostalways doingsomethingas that personlookslike. to assume that John is either funny or ridiculous. This is an the effect.Forexample,ifcharacters surrounding John intentions andthoughts,etc.Inprosefiction,looks areoften includes thephysicaltraitsofcharacter’s faceandbody(e.g. instance, we wouldtendtoseeasattractive someoneatwhom most importantmethodofdirectcharacterisation.Ingeneral, modern literature. judge characterinourownlife. As socialanimals,we arealways states (e.g.sleeping,sitting,etc.),oreven internalchanges speech, thought, oraction),butalso the characterthatcauses be ausefulmethodofdirectcharacterisation. Appearance but alsobyourdeeds. : How a character looks or appears in the storycan also : Howothercharacters are affected or reacttoacharacter : Whatcharactersdo,theirbehaviour,isperhapsthe is perhaps the most famous example of this technique in Transparent Minds: NarrativeTransparent in Fiction Consciousness Modes forPresenting 8

4. Characterisation 59 Prose Fiction 60 without quotingthemdirectly(e.g.‘The detective claimed thathenever dialogue issubjecttomanyconventions andmustbestylised inorderto In narrative, therepresentationofcommunicative interactionusing providing the reader of prose fiction with anexperiencethatapproaches But narrative representationsofdialogueareoftentidieduptoprovide readers. repetitions, meaninglesssounds,nonverbal cues,gaps,lapses,pauses,etc. narrative,introduces adramaticelementintothe dialogue representing an idealised and artificialversion ofconversation, inordertocreatethe free indirectstyle) canalso serve toreportspokenwords, although itis the charactersappear words spokenby fiction isdirectspeech,wherethe for example throughtherepresentationofdifferentdialects or ways of they tend tolacktheimmediacy and effectivenessthey ofdirectspeech.In the qualityand structure of spoken interaction, thetruthisthatnarrative that ofwatching aplayorfilm. to kill me?,” said the detective, still shaking his head.’). This method of transcribed and enclosed in quotationmarks or other conventional signs. to convey itvary quitesubstantiallyfromonenarrative toanother. the characterisationofcharacters.Itcanalsohelptoestablishsetting, indirect speech,forexample,thenarratorreports words of a character impression of reality withoutwearing down or losing theinterestof information abouttheinteraction(e.g.‘“HowcouldIsuspectshewanted more commonly used to convey thecharacter’s thoughts. This method suspected his girlfriendwanted tokillhim.’). Free indirectspeech (or speech) tagsthatindicatewhoisspeakingandprovideotherrelevant speaking. Itisthusacrucialresource used in manyshortstories and developmentto the both speech, ordialogue,contributes and to ofplot novels, althoughtheimportanceofdialogueandtechniquesemployed be intelligible for readers.Conversationsbe intelligible inreallifearefull offragments, Sometimes, the characters’ words are accompanied with dialogue(or omn Page, Norman 9 While manyauthorsattempttowriterealisticdialoguethatcaptures There areothermethodstoconvey dialogueinnarrative, although By far the most common method of representing dialoguein prose difficult todistinguishbetween descriptionsthatuseindirect characterisation (presentedfrom the subjective perspective of any subjective intervention bythenarrator). the narrator) andthosethatusedirectcharacterisation(without the narrator) 9 Speech intheEnglishNovel 4.5 Dialogue (London,UK:Macmillan,1988). detective shookhisheadwhenhefoundout.Howcouldever suspect different characters, the voices of narrators, and even voices external to conversation, thereislittledoubtthatdialogueand,ingeneral,the character’s first-personspeech,withoutusingquotationmarks(e.g.‘The combines thenarrator’s third-personnarrationwiththeessenceof pointed outinhisanalysisofDostoevsky’snarratives (Fig.4.7),many principle ofmodernprosefiction. As theliterarytheoristMikhailBakhtin representation of different voices and perspectives, is a fundamental and multifariousaslifeitself. the story itself) in order to createa narrative thataspires to be as rich the storyitself) them, ‘apluralityofconsciousnesses,withequalrightsandeach that hisgirlfriendwanted tokillhim?’). its ownworld.’ multiplicity ofsocialandideologicalworlds(includingthevoices novels tendtobe‘polyphonic,’thatis,theycombine,withoutmerging 11 10

Regardless oftheactualmethodusedtorepresentspeechand Mikhail M.Bakhtin, Mikhail M. Bakhtin, and Caryl Emerson(Austin, TX:University ofTexas Press,2011). MN: University ofMinnesotaPress,1984),p. 6. 10 The‘dialogicprinciple’ Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics The DialogicThe Imagination:FourEssays 11 bringstogethervoicesfroma , ed. by Caryl Emerson (Minneapolis, , trans. by Michael Holquist , trans.by Фёдор_Михайлович_Достоевский#/ commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ media/File:Dostoevsky_1872.jpg Portrait ofFyodorDostoevsky Fig. 4.7 Gallery, PublicDomain, by Vasily Petrov (1872).Tretyakov

https://

4. Characterisation 61 Prose Fiction 62 Abbott, H. Porter, Abbott, Forster, E. M., Cohn, Dorrit, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Greimas, Algirdas Julien,andJoseph Courtés, Burroway,Janet, Bakhtin, MikhailM., Bakhtin, Mikhail M., • • • • • 1985). Dictionary (Minneapolis, MN:University ofMinnesotaPress,1984). Fiction Film University Press, 1982). Holquist andCaryl Emerson (Austin, TX:University ofTexas Press,2011). Chicago Press,2019), Cambridge University Press,2008), At thelevel of discourse, characters are mere actants withno The representationofcharactersinshortstoriesandnovels characterisation. characterisation. Direct methods involve the representation characters byascribingtothemphysical,mental,and In prosefiction,dialogue(therepresentationofspeech In realistprose fiction, characterisationaims to individuate of characters’speech,thoughts,effects(onothercharacters), of individuation (flat vs. round) ortheirdegreeofpersonal Most characters can be classified according to their degree classified accordingtotheir Most characterscanbe actions, orlooks. as individuals. element of the story, contributing bothto emplotment and evolution throughouttheplot(staticvs.dynamic). features other than those defined in the text and noreasonfor features otherthanthosedefinedinthetext interactions between characters)isusually animportant is generally achieved through indirect or direct methods of however, we canregardthemasexistentsofthestoryworld. being otherthantheirfunctionintheplot. At thelevel of story, behavioural characteristicsorpropertiesthatdistinguishthem (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). (Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversity Press,1988). , trans.byLarryCristand Daniel Patte (Bloomington,IN: Indiana Transparent Minds: NarrativeTransparent Modesfor Presenting Consciousnessin Aspects of the Novel Writing Fiction: to NarrativeA Guide Craft The Cambridge IntroductiontoNarrativeThe The DialogicThe Imagination: Four Essays Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226616728.001.0001 Story andDiscourse:Narrativein Fiction Structureand References Summary (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816932 Semiotics and Language: AnAnalytical and Semiotics (Chicago,IL:Universityof , ed. by Caryl Emerson , trans. by Michael , trans.by (Cambridge,UK:

Page, Norman, Margolin, Uri,‘Individuals in Narrative Worlds: An OntologicalPerspective,’ Margolin, Uri,‘Character’, in Poetics Today, Herman (Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversity Press,2007),pp.66–79, https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 Speech intheEnglishNovel 11:4(1990),843–71. The CambridgeCompanion to Narrative (London,UK:Macmillan,1988). , ed.byDavid

4. Characterisation 63

always keepinmindthedistinctionbetween thesetwolevels ofnarrative. the analysisofdiscourseoftencrossover to thestory.Therefore,we must discourse, namelylanguageandtheme.Ofcourse,the questionsraisedby narration. Then,inthenextchapters,we willlookatotherkeyaspectsof discourse. has an implied reader, which is the ideal reader addressed by narrative it hasmanyofthem(e.g.collaborative fiction).Similarly,every narrative even ifitdoesnothave arealauthor(e.g.computer-generated text)or the otheraspectsof the narration. the organisingprincipleofdiscourse, which includesthenarratorand author does not tellanything;itdoes not have a voice, but itis simply distinguish the implied author from the narratorof the story.The implied by thereaderfromnarrative itself. It isimportantinthissenseto must bereconstructed independent reality,astherealauthordoes,but 1 implied authorandthereaderofanarrative (see the secondlevel inoursemioticmodelofnarrative. at the level of the story. Narration is part of discourse, which constitutes narration, acommunicative actthatdoes not happeninthestoryworldor This iswhatwe tells astorytosomeoneelse(anarratee). call (a narrator) and characters.Butthestoryworldonlycomestoexistbecausesomeone have calledthem,theexistentsofstoryworld:events, environments, So far,we have beenanalysingthemainconstituents ofthestory,or,aswe © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 ). The‘impliedauthor’ ofag Iser, Wolfgang 3 2 1 In thischapter,we willexamine insomedetailthedifferentelementsof Narrativecommunication betweenthe discourseisbasically the Bunyan toBeckett Film 1983). Seymour Benjamin Chatman, Wayne C.Booth, (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000),pp.147–51. 3 The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in ProseFiction from (Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1995). The RhetoricofFiction 1 5. Narration isimpliedbecauseitdoesnothave anexplicitor Story andDiscourse:Narrative StructureinFiction and 2 Every narrative has an implied author, (Chicago,IL:University ofChicagoPress, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.05 Fig. 1.5,Chapter

5. Narration 65 Prose Fiction 66 the story,acomplicationthatwe willtrytoclarifyinthefollowingpages. such inthestoryworld,thesefiguresofdiscoursecanalsobecharacters to the narratee. While neither the narratornor narratee needto exist as its events, environments,andcharacters)fromthestorytoldbynarrator of narrationisthestoryitself.We canonlyinterpretthestoryworld(withall This is particularly important when we discuss narration, becausethe object tells includecharacterswho tellotherstoriesintheirturn.Theresultis stories isofcourseScheherazade herself.Butmanyofthestoriesshe nights bytellinghim different stories (see Fig. 5.1).The narrator of these after thefirstnight,untilScheherazadekeepshimin suspensefor1,001 Nights story itself. narration withinthe is an instanceofnarrative discourse. But prose fiction canalso include process ofcommunicatingthestory. decisions, taken together,definetheexpressionofnarrative, thatis,the techniques thenarratorwillemploytoconvey thestory,etc. All these narrator willhave abouttheexistentsofstoryworld,whatnarrative kind ofknowledgewhat narrator willbe, who the about the author), decisions, attributed totheimpliedauthor(and,ultimately,real being told.NarrationishowitThisinvolves aseriesofprior the narratee(wholistensto,orreads,story).Thestoryiswhat discourse involvedstory) and (who tellsthe narrator are the inthisact Narration is the communicative actoftellingastory.The figures of commentary inprosefiction. the chapter, therefore, we will consider the use of explicit and implicit of thestoryworld,oftenalsomakecommentsaboutthem.Toconclude telling andshowing.Butnarrators,besidesrepresentingtheexistents which narratorscanrepresentevents, characters,andenvironments: of thestory.Next,we willdiscussinmoredetailthebasicmeansby which referstothepointofvieworperspective adoptedbythenarrator of focalisation,animportantandcloselyrelatedaspectnarration, commonly foundinprosefiction.We willthenexaminetheconcept in narration,thenarratorandnarratee,outliningtypesmost Then we willlookmorecloselyatthetwofiguresofdiscourseinvolved and therelationshipbetween narrationandthestorybeingnarrated. hoih Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith 4 First, we needtodefinemorepreciselywhatwe meanbynarration Here, we aremostlyconcerned withthenarrationofastory,which Routledge, 2002),pp.94–97, anarratortellsthestoryofsultanwhokillsallhis newwives 5.1 TheExpressionofNarrative https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203426111 Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics 4 Forexample,in One Thousandand

(London, UK: there are quite a few examples of this sort of transgression, often using the narrative itself.In postmodernist fiction of the latetwentieth century, directly address the readerortocall into questiontheverisimilitude of the narratorconstantlycrosses the boundariesofnarrationinorderto by theeponymouscharacter,whoissupposed to tellhislifestory.But effect. Forexample,LaurenceSterne’snovel levels ofnarrative, inordertotransgressthemorsimplyfor comic In somecases, short storiesandnovels consciously play withthedifferent which linksanimpliedauthorwithreader. whole structureisrepeated,untilwe reachthehighestlevel ofnarrative, includes its narration. narrative, every storyis framed by a higher level of discourse, which of narrative. Regardlessofhowmanyembedded stories we findina however,framework ofoursemioticmodel general doesnotaffectthe within astory,’isrelatively common literary device. Such atechnique, One Nights most shortstoriesandnovels arenotascomplex an intricatestructureofembeddedorsubordinatednarratives. While the so-called‘ 5 Fig. 5.1 University Press,1990),pp.25–32. See Gérard Genette, , thetechniqueofembeddingnarratives, alsoknownas‘astory dur Fééi Wlem Richter, Wilhelm Frédéric Édouard Domain, mise enabyme https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edouard_Frederic_ 5 If that narrationis part of another story, then the Narrative Discourse: An EssayinMethod Wilhelm_Richter_-_Scheherazade.jpg ’ device,inwhichthetechnique ofembedding Scheherazade Tristram Shandy (before 1913), Public (before

One Thousand and One Thousand (Ithaca,NY:Cornell isnarrated

5. Narration 67 Prose Fiction 68 that confirm the rule.Thefactisthatmost fictions establish,explicitly framework ofnarrativewe that havehere, areexceptions presenting been novel inwhichheappears. Counterfeiters The stories withincreatesunresolvable paradoxes,as in André Gide’s narrator, thenarratee,andcharactersinstory: of personallowsustodiscerntheunderlyingrelationshipsbetween the the so-calledperson.Foundedonagrammaticaldistinction,notion voice withnosubjective dimensionwhatsoever. or opinionsfromthenarrationitself.Inothercases, the narratorisjusta though we cansometimes infer detailsabouthisorherlife,personality, have anameorclearidentity,sowe speakofan unknownnarrator,even supposedly told in writing). Very often, however, this narrator does not by askingthequestion:‘who speaks?’ (or ‘who writes?’ when thestoryis considerations aboutthisfigurethatwe needtoclarify. whom thenarratortellsstory. Again, therearequiteafewpractical of discourseto figure is the narratee complications. Similarly,the in practicethereareseveralThis definitionseemssimpleenough,but The narrator of a storyis the figureof discourse that tellsthestory. expressing orrepresentingalltheelementsofstory. communicative actbetween anarratorandnarrateeresponsiblefor level ofstory.Narration,whichoccursatthelevel ofdiscourse, is the or implicitly,acleardistinctionbetween thelevel ofdiscourseandthe In mostshortstoriesandnovels, thenarratorcanbeeasilyidentified All theseself-conscious devices, ratherthancontradictingthegeneral 2. 1. One aspect of this voice that is usually obvious from the narrative is the narratorhimself.This kindofvoiceisdifficulttosustain explicitly referstothenarratee, whichinsome cases might be time (‘Youof the wentfiveout at o’clock.’).Thesecondperson Second-person narrator quite alotabouthimself. old protagonist,HoldenCaulfield,whonaturallytends totalk The CatcherintheRye narratee mayor may notbeexplicit. For example,J.D. Salinger’s the protagonist,oratleastarelevant character,intheplot. The voice iscommonly found instoriestold byanarratorwhoisalso used. Thiskindof narrativegrammatical personscanalsobe (‘I wentoften person quite fiveat out o’clock.’),even ifother narrator First-person , whereoneofthecharactersintendstowritesame 5.2 NarratorsandNarratees : Thenarratortendstousethefirst (Fig.5.2)isnarratedbyitsseventeen-year- : The narrator uses the second person most classification, between twokindsofnarrators: It is also important to make a distinction, somewhat related to theprevious 2. 1. 3. who is also a major character, like thehusband in Raymond participation inthestory,whichcanbeextensive (e.g.anarrator a characterdependsonhis he isactually storyworld. Whether besides beingafigureofdiscourse,isalsoanexistent inthe Internal narrator example ofthistypenarrator. of thestoryworld.Onceagain, story andonlyspeaksfrom outside She isnotacharacterinthe External narrator Wrath kind ofperson.OnethemisJohnSteinbeck’s may beexplicitorimplicit.Therearecountlessexamplesofthis may or may notbeacharacterinthestory.Similarly,narratee the mostcommonnarrative personinprosefiction.Thenarrator the time(‘Themarquisewent outatfive o’clock.’). Thisis,byfar, Third-person narrator a readerofthenovel (narratee). Night a Traveller in experimentalnovels, such as ItaloCalvino’s throughout thenarrative, andhas generally beentriedonly in Bohemia’andmanyother SherlockHolmes stories). While who is just a secondary character, likeDr Watson in ‘A Scandal Carver’s short story‘Cathedral’), or limited(e.g.anarrator , toldbyanarratorwhodoesnotparticipateinthestory. , wheretheframingnarrative directlyaddresses : Thenarratoronlyexistsasafigureofdiscourse. : An internalnarrator,onthe other hand, : The narrator uses the third person most of : The narrator uses the third person most of The Grapes of Wrath Grapes The (1951,_first_edition_cover).jpg org/wiki/File:The_Catcher_in_the_Rye_ Domain, the Rye First-edition cover of Fig. 5.2

(1951) byJ.D.Salinger,Public https://commons.wikimedia. If ona Winter’s The Grapes of The Grapesof isagood The Catcherin

5. Narration 69 Prose Fiction 70 There are also certain types of narrativeThere arealsocertaintypes for seem tolackanarrator, that even acknowledged. narrative, most oftentheyareonlyimplicitfigures, never mentionedor mentioned inthe are sometimesexplicitly as narrators.Whilethey level asthenarrator.Butnarrateesaregenerallynot aseasytoidentify but also a recipient,thenarratee.The narratee issituated at thesame communicativeany As with act,narrationinvolvesnarrator, asender,the events arrangedintheplot,therearebasicallythreekindsofnarration: storyworld belongtodifferentlevels.to the Whenconsideredinrelation of narrative discourse, even if the temporalitiesofnarratorand narration andtheevents ofthestoryhassomeinfluenceonform is internal tothestoryworld. But thetemporalrelationshipbetween environments ofthestoryworldisusuallyonlyrelevant ifthenarrator The spatialrelationshipbetween thenarrator’s environmentandthe communicativea narratoratcertaintimeandplace. actcarriedoutby narrative voiceoranexplicitnarration. certain story.Whatislackinghere,therefore,notthenarrator,but discourse, a narrator,whohasarrangedandeditedtheletterstotell different characters.Buteven insuchcases there isanimplicitfigureof dangereuses example epistolarynovels likePierreChoderlosdeLaclos’ 6 1. weFinally, narration isitselfaprocess, shouldnotforgetthat 3. 2. Rimmon-Kenan, pp.90–102. addressed bythenarratortohimself. Michel Butor’s diaries or novels thatexperiment withnarrative voice, as in the narratortellsstory.This form is usually onlyfound in Simultaneous narration the Bible. only finditinprophecyorvisionarynarratives, forexamplein use thefuturetense,isquiterareinprosefiction.We generally yet whenthenarratortellsstory.This form, which tends to narration Anterior Most shortstoriesandnovels arenarratedusingthisconvention. of narration, which uses past tense as a standard narrative tense. most commonform story. Thisisthe when thenarratortells Ulterior narration narrator. all practicalpurposes,noteasytodistinguishfromanexternal without beingacharacterinthestory,thisis quite rareand, for storyworld of the part narrator tobe for the is alsopossible it , whichisentirelymadeupoflettersexchangedbetween the Second Thoughts : Events aresupposedtohave alreadyhappened : Events arenotsupposedtohave happened : Eventswhile aresupposedtohappen , narratedinpresenttenseand Les Liaisons Les 6 consciousness or presuming toknowtheirthoughts.Thesedifferences to narrating observable events, without ever penetrating anycharacter’s remain attached toa single character’s perspective or constrain themselves in andoutofdifferentcharacters’consciousness with ease,whileothers understand themechanismofnarration.Somenarrators seemtomove Identifying thenarratorofastoryisgenerallynot enough toproperly complex arrangements,asinVladimir Nabokov’s as inWilliam Faulkner’s the differentpartsofnarrative presentedasasequenceofchapters, shared by multiplenarratorsand can address multiple narratees,with (e.g. HelenFielding’s identical, forexamplewhenthestoryisnarratedinanintimatediary to an Academy’), aswell ascaseswherethenarratorandnarrateeare Darkness recipient (e.g.thesailorswholistentoMarlow’sstoryin narratees, whenthenarratoraddressesanaudienceinsteadofasingle Tell-Tale Heart’addresseshisplea).Therearealsoinstancesofcollective unnamed individualtowhomthenarratorofEdgar Allan Poe’s‘The Albert Camus’ stranger wholistenstothestorytoldbyJean-BaptisteClamencein the narration,internalnarrateestendtobeminorcharacters(e.g. to distinguishthemfromexternalones.Whentheyareidentifiedduring external tothediscoursethatbringsnarratorherselfintoexistence. of astorycannever address the impliedreader,whichisnecessarily levels of narrative (see (implied) reader.Butsuchtransgressionofthe refers tothe a termthat that the(implied)authorhaschosentoputinmouthofnarrator address an otherwiseundeterminedexternalnarratee.Certainly,itseems this case,thelabel‘reader’ issimplythetermemployed bythenarratorto mean thatsheisinfactaddressing the real(oreven theimplied)reader.In as ‘reader,’ for exampleinCharlotteBrontë’s novel for impliedorrealreaders.Even whenthenarratoraddresses the narratee left implicitandcouldeasilybemistaken External narrateesaregenerally still popular,conceptofpoint ofview. that iscommonly usedinnarratologytoreplacethemoreambiguous, but can be better grasped with theconcept of focalisation, a technical term Like narrators,narrateescanbeexternalorinternaltothestoryworld. Finally, we shouldnotforgetthatnarrationinprosefictionissometimes Internal narratees can also be left implicit, in which case it is difficult or theacademicpublicofapeRedPeter in Kafka’s‘A Report The Fall Bridget Jones’sDiary Chapter 1 ) orotherexistentsinthestoryworld(e.g. The Sound andtheFury The 5.3 Focalisation ) is only superficial. In fact, thenarrator ). , orintertwinedinmore Pale Fire Jane Eyre . The Heartof , itdoes not

5. Narration 71 Prose Fiction 72 characters inthestoryworld.We canidentifytwofundamentaltypesof narrator inrelationtothe the positionof basically determinedby perspectivethe story,whichis the narratorwhentelling adoptedby which perspective orpointofview?’Focalisationcanbedefinedasthe ‘the narrator,’focalisation responds to theadditionalquestion‘from for examplewhenthenarrator alternatesbetween inward andoutward as intheexamplesprovided above. Butfocalisation can also be variable, Inward andoutward focalisationmaybefixedthroughout thenarrative, focalisation: 7 2. 1. question ‘whospeaks?’inanarrativeresponse tothe If the is Based onGenette,pp.189–211. Maltese Falcon Hammett’s detective novels andshortstories, such as found inDashiell of focalisationcanbe Examples ofthistype without enteringtheconsciousness of anythecharacters. camera, recording everything thathappens in thestoryworld outwardly focalisednarration,wherethenarratoracts likea is external,ontheotherhand,itmuchsimplerto sustain an the narrationisoutwardly orinwardly focalised.Ifthenarrator It isdifficultinthosecasestodeterminewithprecisionwhether subjectivity, given thatthenarratorherselfisafocal character. story, outward focalisationusuallyinvolves acertaindegreeof even ifshedoesn’tparticipatedirectlyintheevents ofthe storyworld, to the is internal outside. Whenthenarrator the of anycharacter,simplyreportingwhatcanbeobserved from presuming toknoworhave accesstothesubjective perspective Outward focalisation perspectiveLambert Strether. of viewitsprotagonist, orpoint Ambassadors The one ofthecharacters. A classic exampleisHenryJames’s novel he adopts or tellsthestoryfrom the subjective perspective of inwardlyto thestoryworld,canalsobe external focalised,when Great Expectations in manyautobiographicalnarratives, such asCharlesDickens’ perspectivefrom the speaking self, as or infant ofhisyounger focalisation tends to beinward, even ifthenarratormightbe case ofafirst-personnarrator,course, read hermind.Inthe and feelingsasifhecouldsomehowenterinsideor thoughts subjective perspective of a focalcharacter,revealing herinner Inward focalisation 7 (Fig.5.3). , narrated by an external narrator fromthe an external , narratedby . A third-person narrator, even one that is : The narrator tellsthestoryfrom the : Thenarratortellsthestorywithout The distinguish threetypesofnarrators: the question ‘how much does the narratorknow?’ In this sense, we can thoughts andfeelingsofthecharacters.Here,we areimplicitlyasking has about theexistentsof the storyworld, in particularabouttheinner confused) with focalisation, is the degreeof knowledge thatthenarrator Martin’s narrator uses different focal characters to tellthestory(e.g.GeorgeR. R. focalisations (e.g. Stendhal’s 2. 1. which isrelated(andoften aspect ofnarration, Another important Fig. 5.3 the Rings God-like narrator,forexampleJ.R.Tolkien’s classic shortstoriesandnovels arenarrated withthissortof the impressionthatthereisinfactnofocalisationat all.Many another asthenarratorthinksappropriate,whichmight give changing fromoutward toinward and from one character to events. Inthiscase,focalisation isoftenvariable andmultiple, or psychologicalstatesofallcharactersandtheunfolding of knowing everything about itsexistents,includingtheinternal Omniscient in the storyworld. This is quite common in inwardly focalised existents or psychological states ofoneorsomethe internal Limited A SongofIceandFire rmtoa sil rm h 14 film 1941 the from still Promotional Barton MacLane, Peter Lorre,andWard Bond,PublicDomain, Magazine National BoardofReview commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maltese-Falcon-Tell-the-Truth-1941.jpg : Thenarratorhasonlylimited knowledge aboutthe . : ThenarratorislikeaGodofthestoryworld, The Redand the Black ). , p.12.L-R:HumphreyBogart,Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon The ), or multiple, when the , publishedinthe The Lordof https://

5. Narration 73 Prose Fiction 74 or even lackaperceptiblenarrative voice (e.g. theeditorofasetletters). an outwardcan adopt narrator focalisation(e.g.camera-eye perspective) straightforward. of conceptstodistinguishbetween differentformsofnarrationisnotso happening inthestoryworld (showing). However, usingthissame pair actors playingthecharacters,andevents beingenactedasiftheywere represented asadramatic play, withastageimitating theenvironments, compare a storytoldbythird-person narrator(telling)andthesame story own inferencesorinterpretations. intervention ofanarrator,leavingreaders orspectatorstomaketheir of theevents, environments, andcharactersofthestorywithout Showing, ontheotherhand,issupposedtobedirectrepresentation comments ontheevents, environments,orcharactersofthestoryworld. mediation ofanarrator,whogives anaccountandofteninterpretsor discourse. Telling referstothe representationofthestorythrough ( Aristotle, thedistinctionbetween ‘telling’( Already establishedinClassicalpoetics,particularlybyPlato and mimesis 3. We have alreadyseen thatallnarratives have anarrator,even ifthe The distinction between thesetwoconcepts is quite clearwhenwe narrated withthiskindofcamera-eye perspective. short storyaboutapairofcriminals in arestaurantwhichis think orfeel.ErnestHemingway’s ‘TheKillers’isaminimalist perceivedexternally characters not what storyworld, but in the and frame their perceptions, they can only record what can be While boththecameraandobjective narratorneedtoselect outwardlyof amoviecamera. focalised,canbecomparedtothat The perspective of an objective narrator, which tends to be and canonlyreportwhatbeobserved fromtheoutside. psychological states of any of the characters in thestoryworld Objective relationship witha man who remembers absolutely everything. where anunnamedfirst-personnarratorrecountshis found inJorgeLuísBorges’s short story‘FunestheMemorious,’ is generallylimited. An exampleofthiskindnarrationmaybe the narratorhimself, as in first-person narratives, his perspective consciousness of othercharacters. When thefocal character is and perceive,or charactersthink whilehavingnoaccesstothe focal character the knows what only narrator fictions, wherethe ) canhelptoclarifycertainimportantaspectsofnarrative : The narrator has no knowledge abouttheinternalor 5.4 TellingandShowing diegesis ) and‘showing’ different narrative methodstorepresenttheevents oftheplot: of involvement inthenarration. on hisprominenceordegree rather presence orabsenceofanarrator,but derived formofshowing.Inthiscase,thedistinctionisnotbasedon first typeofnarrationcanbequalifiedastelling,whilethesecond is a ‘“How could I suspect she wanted tokillme?” said the detective.’ The words thatwere supposedlyspokenbythecharactersthemselves, asin his girlfriendwantednarrator quotesthe him.’ Inothercases,the tokill using his own voice, as in ‘Thedetective claimed that henever suspected narration. Insome cases, the narratorconveys thewords of characters ( ( In thissense,allnarrationisaformoftelling mimesis Fig. 5.4 1. In prosefiction,tellingand showing usuallyinvolve theuse of two characters, summaryisthetellingofevents. same wayof environmentsand thatdescriptionisthetelling summary bringsnarrationclosertotheidealoftelling.In war, withall its battles and other significantevents. In general, no onefeltvictorious.’ A singlesentencesummarises years of saying: ‘Battleswere wonandlost,manydied,attheend duration. Forexample,anarratormighttellaboutlongwar by Summary ). Butwe havedifferent formsof can be there alsoseenthat Theatre scene: two women making a call on a witch (all three of them wearthem of three (all witch a on call a making women two scene: Theatre Public Domain, in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples). By Dioscorides of Samos, masks). Roman mosaicfromtheVillatheatre delCiceroneinPompeii,now : A summary narrates events bycompressing their Villa_del_Cicerone_-_Mosaic_-_MAN.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompeii_-_ diegesis ), notshowing

5. Narration 75 Prose Fiction 76 about thenarrationitself: the storyandone narrator canmakeabout the that commentaryexplicit straightforward messagefoundinthenarration.Therearethreetypesof Explicit commentary is easier to graspand understand, as it consists of a even ifthenarratorisunaware ofthem. the impliedauthortoreaderthroughnarrator’s voice, is expressedbythenarrator’s voice,itcanalsoincludemessages sent by rest ofnarration, the story. Whilecommentary,like existents ofthe of the pronouncement ofthenarratorthatgoesbeyondadescriptionoraccount of anarrator.Itcanalsocontaincommentary,whichconsistsany Narrative discourse can do more than just tell astorythroughthevoice own usesandlimitations. and novels.haveother, andboth of themissuperiortothe Neither their both formsofnarrationarecommonlyfoundinmostshortstories that Despite therecurrentdebatesthatoppose telling toshowing,thefactis 8 2. 2. 1. and implicit. There aretwobasicformsofcommentary:explicit Chatman, pp.228–60. the story,inkeepingwithhis moralisingintentions. constantly givinghisopinion abouttheevents and charactersof In HenryFielding’s form ofpersonalevaluation oftheexistentsinstoryworld. Judgement like asociologistwoulddo. implications of thevarious behaviours of thecharacters, almost provide interpretationsthatcontextualiseandanalyse thesocial series ofnovels storyworld. InBalzac’s in the existents or significanceofthe Interpretation narration closertotheidealofshowing. method ofrepresentingastory(seeFig.5.4).Thus,scenebrings which has traditionally beenconsidered the most effective is alreadyfoundin Ancient epic,seemstobeinspiredbydrama, as some narration of the characters’ actions. This method, which characters, aswellenvironment andthe descriptions ofthe brief created byquotingdialogueindirectspeech,intersectedwith Usually,theillusionis the reader). narratee (andultimately, to createtheillusionthattheyareunfoldinginfrontof Scene : A scenenarratesasequenceofevents inenoughdetail : Thenarratorexpressesamoralopinionoranother : The narrator explainsthemeaning, relevance, The Human Comedy The 5.5 Commentary Tom Jones , forexample,thenarrator is , forexample,narratorsoften 8

fiction: we candistinguishtwobasickindsofimplicitcommentaryinprose the narratorhimself.Dependingonwhichlevels ofnarrative itcrosses, The ironymightbeattheexpenseofcharactersor something differentfrom,oreven oppositeto,whatisactuallymeant. Implicit commentaryisaformofirony,usediscoursetostate 9 3. 2. 1. 4. Booth, pp.149–68. The narratorinthiscase is saidtobeunreliable. indirectly withtheimpliedreaderatexpenseof narrator. it istheimpliedauthorwhobeingironic,bycommunicating real intentionormeaningofthenarrative discourse. In thiscase, the tobe contradict whattheimpliedreadercanknow(orinfer) Unreliable narrator as ismadeclearintherestofnovel. except undertheassumptionsofanarrow-mindedbourgeoisie, the narratorthinksthatthis is far from being a universal truth, in wantpossession of agoodfortunemustbe ofawife.’ Infact, ‘It isatruthuniversally acknowledged, thata singlemanin of ironyisthefirstsentenceinJane Austen’s A classicexampleofthisform (and eventually,the reader). by the charactersinstorybutcanbeunderstood by thenarratee narrator is being ironic. In this case, the ironyis at theexpenseof different, even theopposite,towhatisbeingstated.Thus, characters or events inthestorythatmeans something very Ironic narrator his creationfromaplagiariser. in thesecond part ofthebook,whenhefeelsneed to defend pauses toreflectonthetaskofnarratinghisstory,particularly for instanceinCervantes’ commentary isalreadyfoundinearlyexamplesofthenovel, other aspectsofnarrative discourse.Thisformofself-reflective Reflection notions orevents inEuropeanhistory. the events inthenovel byconnectingthemwithphilosophical where thenarratorcomments on thecharacters and reflects on novels, suchasMilanKundera’s This is mostcommon in philosophical lifeworld ofthereader). story toreachgeneralconclusions about hisownworld(orthe Generalisation Gogol’s short story ‘Diary of a Madman,’ for example, the : Thenarratorcomments on hisownnarrationor : The narrator extrapolates the existents of the existents the extrapolates : Thenarrator : The narrator makes a statement about the : Thenarratormakesastatementabout : Thenarratormakesstatementsthat Don Quixote The Unbearable Lightness of Being Unbearable Lightness The , wherethenarratoroften Pride andPrejudice 9 InNikolai , :

5. Narration 77 Prose Fiction 78 story ‘DiaryofaMadman’(1835)by Illustration ofNikolaiGogol’sshort Ilya Repin,PublicDomain, File:Repin_IE-Illustraciya-Zapiski- sumasshedshego-Gogol_NV4.jpg commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ • • • perspective ofoneormorethecharacters(inward focalisation) a story, narrators canadoptthesubjectiveWhen telling time astheyarebeingtold. happened, have notyet happened,orare happeningatthesame or third person. And they can narrate events thathave already the story.Moreover, narratorscanspeakinthefirst,second, Narrators (aswellto or internal asnarratees) canbeexternal events, andenvironments). story (characters, of the expresses orrepresentsalltheexistents communicative actbetween a narratorandanarrateethat An elementofnarrative discourse, narration isthe society. meant toridiculetheabsurditiesandpretensionsofhuman amongst exoticcreatureswithoutever suspectingthattheyare into satire,asthegulliblenarratortellsofhismisadventures Gulliver inJonathanSwift’s 5.5). Another celebratedexampleof an unreliablenarratoris implied reader(Fig. (and comiceffect)areonlyaccessibletothe as hedescends into madness, makingstatementswhoseirony narrator, aminorcivilservant, becomes increasingly unreliable Fig. 5.5 https://

Summary Gulliver’s Travels , whereironyturns Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith, Iser, Wolfgang, Gérard, Genette, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Booth, Wayne C., • Routledge, 2002), Bunyan toBeckett University Press,1990). Film 1983). • • (unreliable narrator). orthemselves at theexpenseofcharacters(ironicnarrator) explicit andimplicitcommentaryonthestory,sometimes Beyond tellingandshowing,narratorscanalsomake narrative methods:telling(summary)andshowing(scene). the narratorinnarration,we candistinguishtwodifferent Depending ontheprominenceordegreeofinvolvement of perceived withthesenses(objective). of thecharacters(limited),ortheycan only knowwhatcanbe or theycanhave onlypartialinformationaboutoneormore of charactersandtheunfoldingeventsthoughts (omniscient), Similarly, narratorscanknoweverythinginner the about the characters’consciousness(outward focalisation). or limitthemselves to observable events withoutenteringanyof (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in ProseFiction from The Rhetoric ofFiction The Narrative Discourse: An EssayinMethod (Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1995). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203426111 Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics Story andDiscourse:Narrativein Fiction and Structure References (Chicago,IL:University ofChicagoPress, (Ithaca,NY:Cornell (London, UK:

5. Narration 79

words arrangedintosentences(seeFig.6.1). discourse is made up oflanguage.In fact,theclosest we cangetto If we arespeakingaboutliterature,thereis no doubt thatnarrative © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 language.’ already seen (in it is‘thecreativemight betosaythat a definitionofliterature useof fiction narratives arepreciselythosewhere anarratortellsstoryusing media, suchascomics, dance, ormovies.Bydefinition,however, prose 1 Geoffrey N. Leech, Geoffrey Pearson Longman,2008),p.12, 1 Ofcourse,notallstoriesaretoldusinglanguage.We have Chapter 1 Language in Literature: Stylein Literature: Language andForegrounding 6. Language ) thatstories can be expressed in manydifferent https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315846125 wiki/Gutenberg-Bibel#/media/ File:Gutenberg_Bible_B42_Genesis.JPG First pageoftheBookGenesis Fig. 6.1 Domain, in theGutenbergBible,Public https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.06

https://de.wikipedia.org/

(Harlow,UK:

6. Language 81 Prose Fiction 82 According to oursemioticmodelof narrative, discourse is themessage The tradition of rhetoric still influences the analysis and classification of The traditionofrhetoricstillinfluencestheanalysisandclassification The languageemployed inprosefictionvaries widely.Somestoriesaretold Finnegans Wake with more precision the features that distinguish literary from everyday we willdiscuss the notionofforegrounding, whichcanhelpustoidentify wewith, linguistic details.Tobegin fleshing outallthe without needto describe the language of narrativelanguage describe the systematic way, inany shortofsaying language, suchastheuseoffigurative devices or figuresofspeech. After language. Foregroundinginprosefictioncaninvolve differentaspectsof prose fiction. In recent times, the application of modern linguistics to the prose fiction.Inrecenttimes,theapplicationofmodernlinguisticsto of shortstoriesandnovels, mostlyderived fromrhetoricandstylistics, reviewing themostsignificantofthesedevices for narrative prose,we will a style that is so far removed from everyday languagethatmost readers and figurative devices,asinRaymondCarver’s ‘Cathedral’andother all over theworld. aspect ofdiscourse thatbrings together languageand theme. We willend examine theuseofsymbolsandallegoryinshortstories andnovels, an explain whatwe meanbystyle, acharacteristicsetoflinguisticfeatures figures ofspeechandotherlinguisticdevicesemployed incontemporary form of discourse is what weform ofdiscourseiswhat call itsstyle. generally style Ingeneral,the that theimpliedauthor communicates totheimpliedreader.This translation importance ofliterary out the pointing by briefly chapter the the realauthor,oreven toagroupofauthorsor to awholeculture.Then, to theimpliedauthorofastory,butalso that issometimes attributed traditionally beenthetaskofrhetoric,anancientdisciplinethatattemptedto that itisareflectionofthevariability oflanguageitself. understand andteachtheartofcraftingeffective andpersuasive discourse. in alanguagethatseems common or ordinary, withlittleuse of adjectives is a characteristic setoflinguistic features associated with atextor group in givingreaders access to therich variety of prose fiction stories written incorporating newconcerns,concepts,andmethodologies. have ahard time understandingit,as in James Joyce’s experimental novel minimalist short stories. At theotherextreme,some stories arewrittenin message not only has a content, which is the story, but also a form. The some of the interests and terminology of traditional rhetoric, while some oftheinterestsandterminologytraditionalrhetoric,while study ofliterarytextshasgiven risetostylistics, a disciplinethatmaintains The study of language in literature and other forms of discourse has The studyoflanguageinliteratureandotherformsdiscoursehas In this chapter, we will present some key insights about thelanguage . Thisdiversity ofstyles andtechniquesmakesitdifficultto 6.1 TheStyleofNarrative virtual entity that enouncesthediscourse. In thissense,itisgenerally virtual entity (e.g. thestyle ofRomanticnovels), orawholeculture(e.g.thestyle of which ishighlyindividualisticandgives considerableimportance we mightcomparethelinguisticfeaturesoftheseworksandidentify work ofseveral anonymous compilers. of itsrealauthor.Insomecases,as without anyneedtoknowtheidentity genre, oraround the same time, or in the same geographic or cultural crucial importanceofchoosingtherightword, right turnofphrase, can beextremelyconscious of theiruselanguage,beingaware ofthe Korean literature). Flaubert, for example, was famously determined to writeinthemost linguistic featuresofthetextthatdefineitsstyle, ormore preciselythe laboured undertheimpression thathisdailybattleforperfectioncould literature, withaprose style thathasbeenadmired ever since, he always possible toanalysethelinguisticfeaturesofstyleitself, basedon thetext perfect style, workingtirelesslytocraftevery sentence,every paragraph, of theirwork. styleof texts.Thus,the ofashortstoryornovelsum oflinguistic isthe reputation ofagiven writer.Insuchacontext, writersthemselves often and identifiablesetoflinguisticfeaturesthatcanraise theliteraryvalue attribute acertainstyle toagenre(e.g. the style ofthrillers),aperiod area, even whentheauthorsaredifferent.Inthesecases,we may a commonstyle thatcanbeattributedto thatauthor.Forexample,we even have thisinformation.However, we canstillidentifythespecific features thatcharacteriseitsnarrative discourse. the most elegant andevocative shortstories and novels in thehistoryof that style should be associated most of the time with the identity and creativeand tothe to originality geniusofauthors,itisnotsurprising the style of in ordertoengagetheinterestandimaginationoftheir readers.Gustave identify linguisticfeaturesthataresharedbytextswritteninthesame in anonymousworksorpublicationsunderapseudonym,we mightnot sometimes during weeks ormonths. And althoughhepublishedsome of strive toshape(or‘find,’ as theysometimes say) theirownstyle, aunique speak ofthewritingstyle ofJackKerouac, bycomparingthestyle of style ofitsimpliedauthor.Itisinthiswaywe that speak,forexample,of not bewon(Fig.6.2).‘Human language,’saysthenarratorof novels like When we knowtheidentityofrealauthorseveral narratives, Narrative styleimplied author,whichisthe tothe attributed maybe Given thatshortstoriesandnovels areproducts ofmodern culture, But style isnotjusttheresultofavain searchforliteraryglory. Authors One ThousandandNights On theRoad or The DharmaBums. , even thoughitisprobablythe Sometimes,we canalso Madame

6. Language 83 Prose Fiction 84 File:Gustave_Flaubert_-_Trois_Contes,_ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Flaubert’s shortstory‘A SimpleHeart’ Facsimile ofthefirstdraftGustave As mentionedabove, style isthesetoflinguisticfeaturesthatcharacterise Bovary where twopeoplearesittinginsilence, we could say something like:‘The (Paris: EditionConarddesOeuvres deviations are generallymorefrequentand significant thaninotherforms collocation, paragraph organisation,etc.Thesedecisions are oftenguided of language,orfromthebackground,we saythattheyareforegrounded. of discourse. of deviance from established norms and standards. In literature,these as the‘norm,’ there aremanyliterarytexts,includingshortstoriesand about rhythm,phonological patterns, syntacticstructure,lexicalchoice, a text.Thus,style generallyresultsfrommultiple andcomplexdecisions the languagethatwe use tocommunicate in everyday situationsistaken is nothingextraordinaryin thissentence,whichsimplytriestoconvey silence was interruptedbythebuzzingofbees around theplants.’There divergethat specific linguisticfeaturesinthosetexts fromthenormaluse novels,norm invarious whichtendtodeviatefromthat ways. Ofthe by habit and convention.habit by can alsoinvolve Butthey avariable degree bears dance,whilewe longtomeltthestars.’ utv Flaubert, Gustave 2 Complètes, 1910),PublicDomain, A keyaspectofliterarystyle isthusthenotionofforegrounding.If For example,ifwe wanted todescribe the presence of bees ina garden Mark Overstall (Oxford,UK: Oxford University Press, 2004),p.170,mytranslation. , ‘islikeacrackedpotonwhichwe tapcrudemelodies to make page_66.jpg Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners Fig. 6.2 6.2 Foregrounding

2 , trans. by Margaret Mauldon and Margaret , trans.by While foregrounding can be a usefulnotiontoanalysethestyleWhile foregroundingcanbe ofliterary which uses many adjectives and figures of speech, the languageis conversation andconstitutethemost important source of newwords and commonly employedare alsofound inordinary they inprosefiction,but In lyrical poetry,forexample,languageis usually much more language (note, for example, the alliteration in the ‘buzzing of bees’ ‘buzzing in the alliteration (note, forexample,the language paragraph fromVirginia Woolf’s of calling attention to languageitself,butcanserveof callingattention functions important are themostsignificantandwidelyusedfiguresofspeech. Metaphorsare weand otherlinguisticdevices that literary normally associatewith expressions inanylanguage. features ofliterarystyle. Even whenwe communicate with eachother could servefree normthat asbackgroundorareferencetoidentifythe from a supposednorm. Short stories and novels writteninprose that foregrounded than inprosenarrative. Shortstoriesandnovels, especially foregrounded andbroughttotheattentionofreader. the most popularones,areoftenwritteninastyle thatexhibitsfewor stillness moreoppressive.’to makethe their way throughthelongunmowngrass,orcirclingwithmonotonous the sameideavery differently:‘Thesullenmurmurofthebeesshouldering the sentenceabove). Thisisparticularlythecaseformetaphors,which texts, itis increasingly difficulttosustain the idea that thereis a style- the intended meaning as economically and effectively as possible. The uses a highlyforegrounded language, reminiscent of lyricalpoetry,are insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the stragglingwoodbine, seemed in everyday situations,ourlanguageis not devoid of figures of speech many prose fictions whose language deviates as much as anypoem sometimes classified as poeticorlyricalprose.Consider, for example,this no perceptibledifferences from everyday language.Buttherearealso narrator ofOscarWilde’s 4 6 sa Wilde, Oscar 3 igna Woolf, Virginia 5 The degreeofforegroundinginliterarytextsvaries quiteconsiderably. To want and not tohave, sent allupherbodyahardness, a hollowness, a wrung theheart,anditagainagain! Moreover, weforegrounding isnotjusta way shouldnotforgetthat strain. And then to want and not to have ‘poetic function’oflinguisticcommunication. George LakoffandMarkJohnson, See alsoRomanJakobson,‘Linguistics andPoetics’,in 2012), p.135. 2003), p.5. MA: MIT Press, 1960), pp.350–77,whereforegrounding isdescribed in termsofthe Chicago Press,2017). The Picture of Dorian Gray To theLighthouse The PictureofDorianGray 6 , ed.byMaxBollinger(London,UK: UrbanRomantics, To theLighthouse Metaphors We Live By , ed. by RobertMighall (London, UK: Penguin, 3 Inthislongandresonantsentence, — to want and want — 5 Style inLanguage : (Chicago,IL:University of , however, expresses 4 how that (Cambridge,

6. Language 85 Prose Fiction 86 would be lost to theimplied reader, who has no presence at thelevel of discourse use figurative language,butinliteratureitsusetendsto be difference between literaryand ordinary languageisnotthatoneuses existents of storyworld. Infact,the discourse andnodirectaccesstothe characters orenvironments,andwhensummarising events. Inmost communication, therefore, languageisburdened,notonlywithconveying Figurative language,whichincludes so-called rhetorical figures,tropes, literal orprecisedefinitions whenwe communicate with eachother.The literal meaningofwords and sentences. Literal meaning referstothe language is commonly used in descriptions, when representing precise definitionordenotationofwords.Figurativeon the meaning, possible theactions of characters and otherevents intheplot.Moreover, ordinary communicative interactions,boththespeakerandlistener other wordsorsounds. other hand, exploits the connotations and associations of words with or figures of speech, is the use of language in ways that deviate from the are often carefully selected to recount as precisely and meaningfully as selected torecountaspreciselyandmeaningfully are oftencarefully as narrativethem intheimaginationof discoursesucceeds in representing are partofeveryday language,given thatwe seldom rely exclusively on also toaffecttherhythmandflowofnarrative. Butperhapsthe emerge inthereader’s mind. figures of speech while the other one does not. Both literary and ordinary other onedoesnot.Bothliterary figures ofspeechwhilethe tends todo.Forexample,descriptionsinprosefictionofteninclude the featuresoflanguageinslightlydifferentways thannormaldiscourse the reader. And this can only be done by means of language. In narrative the storyworld(events, environments,andcharacters)onlyexistinsofar to thenarratee.Butthenmanyofdetailsandmeaningsstory the story the narratorcouldalsorelyonasharedcontextwhentelling in narrative and other forms of discourse. In prose fiction, foregrounded most noticeable rhetorical aspect of literary discourse, commontoboth most noticeablerhetoricalaspectofliterary meaning, butalsowithrecreatingthewholecontextwheremeaningcan share a context to which they can refer explicitly or implicitly.Inprinciple, can referexplicitly share acontexttowhichthey stimulate andengagethereader’s imagination. short stories and novels, is the widespread use of figurative languageto sentences arecrafted,notjusttocommunicateevents andideas,but significant detailstoreaders.Insummariesandscenes,verbs andadverbs nouns, adjectives, andphrases thatevokesensoryexperiencesandconvey This definitioncovers awidearrayoflinguisticfeatures,mostwhich In order to succeed in this difficult task, literary discourse needs touse In ordertosucceedinthisdifficulttask,literary 6.3 FiguresofSpeech we willonlyintroducebrieflythemostcommon figures ofspeechfound devices, which can be found in treatisesand textbooks on rhetoric. and novels: in narrative discourse, giving some examples drawn from short stories including everyday speechorconversation. more intensive andcreative thaninmostothercommunicative situations, 7 1. Throughout history,therehave beenmanyclassifications of figurative 2. 3. For example, Ward Farnsworth, David RGodine, 2016). ‘tenor’)‘vehicle’).the other(the by Metaphorsareusuallynot ‘The full green hills are round and soft as breasts.’ Here, the ‘like’ or‘as’).Thisconnectorisnotamerelinguisticconjunction, Personification Metaphor vehicle. InJohnSteinbeck’s Simile woman’s mouth (tenor) toafountain(vehicle), allowsthereader woman’s mouth (tenor) characteristics to a nonhuman entity, object, oridea.Inthiscase, characteristics toanonhumanentity, created from similarity indenotation(literalmeaning),butfrom language canbeconsidered,inabroadsense,metaphorical. of delight.’Ofcourse, she does not meanthattherewas delight, or secondary meanings). In Kate Chopin’s short story ‘The But theimagecreatedbynarrator’s metaphor,equatingthe resemblance between twoideasorthings(tenorandvehicle), attribute that underliesthecomparisonbetweenattribute tenorand the tenorisnothumanwhile theimplicitorexplicitvehicle isa terms ofcertainconnotative qualities(roundnessandsoftness), the narratordescribes the landscape with thefollowingwords: to understandmorevividlythecascade of emotions experienced is the attribution ofcharacteristics ofanimateentities,suchas is theattribution important figureof speech, and many other forms of figurative hills (tenor) and the breasts(vehicle) are explicitly compared in hills (tenor) human-specific quality or attribute. human-specific quality A variantof personification much less any kind of liquid, gushing out from Calixta’s mouth. some similarityintheconnotationofwords(theirassociated but notothers(e.g.greenness). but itallows the simile to specify more clearly the quality or but itmakesthecomparison explicit withaconnector(usually, by Alcée ashekisseshislover. Metaphorisperhapsthemost between saying: ‘Hermouthwasby Alcée andCalixta afountain between twoideas or thingsbyequatingreplacingone(the Storm,’ for example, the narratordescribes the sexual encounter : Likemetaphor,asimileestablishesrelationshipof : A metaphorestablishesarelationshipofresemblance : personal orhuman A personificationattributes Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric The GrapesofWrath , forexample, (Jaffrey, NH: (Jaffrey, 7 Here,

6. Language 87 Prose Fiction 88 All thesetropesareroutinely usedineveryday language,even ifthey When afigureofspeech has beenincorporatedintonormallanguage often arenotperceivedspeakers orlisteners. figures ofspeechby asbeing 4. 7. 6. 5. Metonymy Hyperbole Synecdoche (vehicle): ‘The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabledroof Oxymoron whole ofsomething, orviceversa. InMargaretMitchell’s closely related withit)wherea term for a part refers to the to theEndofNight pulled over itsearslikealowhat.’ Roy’s or thingsareassociated because oftheircontiguity,not or attributes from the vehicle to the tenor. In a metonymy, ideas or aparadox.ThenarratorofDavid Foster Wallace’s Macondo with thishyperbolicdescription: ‘Theworldwas so Georgia waited tillafterChristmasbeforeitsecedes or it would García Márquez’s resemblance. ThenarratorofLouis-Ferdinand Céline’s recent thatmanythingslacked names, and in order to indicate a house (tenor) asifitwas anawkwardly dressed person a house(tenor) appear tobecontradictory, but in fact contain a concealed point a certain point or creating a strong impression. In Gabriel and legislators. This synecdoche is very common, as we often for example,makesthisparadoxicalstatement:‘That everybody the writer’s self orconsciousness based on any resemblance,but they aredifferentfromeveryone else.’ them itwas necessarytopoint.’ the narratorintroducesimaginaryandprimeval worldof taken bythewholecountry. idea orthingwithwhichitissomehow connected or relatedin is usedtoreferitsconstituents,orrathergovernment is identicalintheirsecretunspokenbeliefthatway deepdown have ruinedtheChristmasparties.’ThewholestateofGeorgia meaning. Unlikemetaphor,metonymydoesnottransferqualities with theWind should putyourskinonthetable.’Here,isnotreplacing speak of the actions ofacountry’sgovernmentspeak ofthe were asifthey nonhuman animals,toinanimateobjectsorideas.In Arundhati because itiscontiguousorenvelops hisbody. The God ofSmall Things The : Hyperboleisanexaggerationaimedatemphasising : An oxymoronconnectsorcombineselements that : A metonymyreplacesanideaorthingbyanother : A synecdocheisaformofmetonymy (oratleast, , oneof the characters says: ‘I’m mighty glad One Hundred YearsOne Hundred of Solitude , forexample,says:‘Whenyouwrite, , for example, the narrator describes narrator , forexample,the , forexample, Infinite Jest Journey Gone , conceits are figures of speech that are too strange, complex, awkward, commonplace and somewhat annoying. Examples of clichés are similes common languagethatwe donoteven noticethemanymore. In general,asymbolisanythingthatrepresentssomething elsebyvirtue language isasymbolicsystem,andwe alsoroutinelyusenon-linguistic leave thereaderbaffledandscratchinghishead. praise inthecontextofaparticularnarrative discourse. or groups of people, cultures, ideas, beliefs, values, etc. Insofar as human of anarbitraryassociation. or extremetobeeffective. Likeclichés,theytendtocallattention often failtoconveya figurative effect inthe sensory meaningorcreateany reader. Instead, they tend to call attention to themselves,tend tocallattention reader. Instead,they comingacrossas running out’(deadpersonification)nolongerelicitsthekindofsurprise, represent other objects or things, buttheycan also represent individuals are trafficsigns, words, and flags, amongst many others. Symbols might aspiring writerstoavoidclichésasmuchpossible. discourse, areclichés.Unlikedeadfiguresofspeech,clichés and inliterary and isnolongerrecognisedassuch,weit isdead.Forexample, saythat example, seems like a farfetched image, a conceit that would probably a farfetchedimage,conceitthat example, seemslike elicit. However, thesedeadtropesstillconvey some of theirfigurative each other. force. It isusual,therefore,forcritics and rhetoricianstorecommend themselves inanegative way.Comparing eyes for teeth,’ to‘pearly opposite stylistictropes andfallintothe Farfetched tropesor blunder. havetropes, andthisisthereasonwhythey becomesomuchapartof or that ‘time is to say thatone has ‘fallen in love’ (dead metaphor) understanding of the world and allow us to communicate effectively with it depends on the readers and the critics to decide whether a trope, no a trope, critics todecidewhether readers andthe depends onthe it in theWestern literarytraditionthattheyhave lostmuchoftheiroriginal meanings and associations. In general,dead tropes tendtobevery good matter howtriteorfarfetcheditmayseem,iseffective andworthyof such as ‘eyes like stars’ or ‘teeth likepearls,’ which have beenso overused sensory experience, or revelation thatliterarytropesaresupposed to symbolic systems, there is no doubtthatsymbols play acrucialrole inour no hardrulesoruniversally valid prescriptions. At theendofday, 8 In othercases, writers gotoofarintheireffortstocoinnewandoriginal In figurativehowever,language, of style,all matters as in are there Other tropes that are also used quite often, both in everydayoften, both are alsousedquite tropes that Other language Charles Sanders Peirce, NY: Dover Publications,1955),pp.102–3. Philosophical Writing of Peirce 8 6.4 Symbolism Symbolscommonly used by modernhumans , ed.byJustusBuchler(NewYork,

6. Language 89 Prose Fiction 90 Voldemort, but also markshimastheherochosentodefeatevilforces. Voldemort, but white) orOldEnglish(‘dumbledore’ means bumblebee)whichareonly Letter generally moral or abstract ideas. This is what we call an allegory, from Harry’s foreheadsymbolisestheconnectionwithhismortalenemyLord Harry Potter,thenamesofsomecharacters,like Albus Dumbledore,are lifeworld ofwritersandreaders,suchastheChristiansymbolcross. or character) canbecomeasymbol.Sometimes,symbolicassociations or character) of the whole story, turning the events,of thewholestory,turning environments,andcharactersof But narratives canalsocreatenewsymbols,byassociatingexistentsofthe relevant fortheimplied(orreal)reader. are also used in the lifeworld of readers. For example, the fatherand son a certainmeaning,liketheletter‘A’ thatadulterouswomenareforced also beleftimplicit.Somesymbolsareunequivocallyassociated with can they story, but characters inthe or by narrator the are expressedby and novels that are meant to beread as allegories. Narrative discourse act ofreadinganystory as allegory.Buttherearealsoshortstories as such.Thisis called allegoresis,the it author didnotintendtowrite as allegories.Beyondtheirliteralmeaning,they have amoraland existents of the story.InHarryPotterseries, for example,thescar on fire,’ whichtheyconceive asasymbolofgoodness and hopeastheytryto transcendent meanings in the events,transcendent meaningsin the characters,orenvironmentsof the the Ancient Greek‘tospeakofsomething else.’Religiousmyths,likethe the storyworldintorepresentationsofsomethingother thanthemselves, the lossoffaith,orHolocaust. to wearHawthorne’s crime inNathaniel tosymbolisetheir is thenconstructedinsuch away thatinvites readerstofindhiddenor in Cormac McCarthy’s novel interpretations, likethe‘night’in Elie Wiesel’s novel metaphysical significance. storyworld. Thiskindofsustained symbolismisquitecommon infables, story ofChrist’scrucifixionorthelifeBuddha,are oftenconstructed symbolic totheextentthattheyrefermeaningsinLatin(‘albus’means survive inthethroesofworldwideannihilation. story withanyarbitrarymeaning,orgive newmeaningstosymbolsthat but belongstothelevel of discourse or the lifeworld of readers. Again, in be understood to represent,amongstotherthings,death,Nazism, despair, Symbols canalsobeexternal,whenthereferentisnotpartofstoryworld, In certainnarratives, symbolism becomes the structuringframework In narrativeof thestory(event, discourse,anyexistent environment, Narrative symbols can be internal,whentheyareassociated with other Sometimes, readerswillinterpretastoryasanallegory even ifthe Some symbols used in narrative carrytheirmeaningdirectlyfrom the . Butthereareothersymbolswhosemeaningisopentodifferent The Road speakabouthavingorcarrying‘the Night , which could The Scarlet The At thetopoflist,we findlanguageslikeEnglish, Chinese,Spanish, Farm (Fig. 6.3).Whilethestorycanbereadliterallyasasortoffairytale,it with arelatively smallnumberofspeakersandyet aconsiderablenumber could possibly beabletoread every storyinitsoriginallanguage.Even Prose fiction is written in hundreds of different languages throughout in hundreds ofdifferentlanguages Prose fictioniswritten French, German,Japanese,orRussian. But therearemany otherlanguages parables, and other literarystories that attempttoconvey a lesson or proportion ofwritersand publications iscomparatively small, but still of readersandwriters,suchasNorwegian, Catalan,orCzech. And there outright tyranny. adds uptoalargenumber inabsoluteterms. are alsowidelyspokenlanguages likeMalay,Swahili, orPunjabi, whose and politicallessonaboutthedegenerationofCommunistidealsinto environments oftheRussianRevolution,inordertoextractamoral therefore, writers and readers) tend tobealso the languages in which havethe world.Languagesthat thelargestshareoftotalspeakers(and is obviousthattheevents, characters,andenvironmentsofOrwell’s illustrate acomplexorabstractideainnarrative form. imaginary storyworldstandinfortherealevents, characters,and most books are published, although the correlation is far from being exact. correlation is farfrombeing most booksarepublished,althoughthe An exampleofmodernpoliticalallegoryisGeorgeOrwell’s In suchadiverse and globalisedworld, there isnoreader who , a novel about farm animals rebelling against their human owners 6.5 Translation A depictionofapigdressedas photos/34239598@N00/16143409811 Fig. 6.3 CC BY2.0, Orwell’s human capitalisttoillustrateGeorge

Animal Farm https://www.flickr.com/ . ByCarlGlover, Animal

6. Language 91 Prose Fiction 92 Alexanderplatz When translatingprosefiction,translatorsneedtomakedifficultlinguistic While readingatranslationisneveris original, it same asreadingthe the Thus, translations play a crucial role in allowing theflow of ideas and various translatorsinvolved. Ontheotherhand,translatingalyrical would require atsome point or another torelyon translation inorder daunting taskforanytranslator.Thisisalsothereason why,ingeneral, degree offoregroundingthe the difficulty tendstoincreasewith discourse is goingtobedifferentbecauseit written in anotherlanguage. linguistic features of the text. Thus, translating a popularthriller,suchas linguistic featuresofthetext.Thus,translating language. They also need to take intoaccount the expectations of readers practising Christiansaroundtheworldhave readtheOldTestament of of of storiesthatmakeup‘world literature.’ often unrecognisedandundervalued, despiteitsobviousculturalbenefits. operation, whichdoesnotrequiredifficultdecisions on thepartof Girl of Izu,’ or apolyphonicmodernist novel like Alfred Döblin’s Dan Brown’s and form with thespecific requirements and possibilities of the target and interpretativeoriginal content to the fidelity choices,balancingtheir always interpretationsorrewritingsoftheoriginal.Even ifthetranslator and highly elliptical short story like Yasunarishort storylike elliptical and highly Kawabata’s ‘TheDancing example, haveoriginal of readthe the only means for most readers to access the rich and boundlessvarietyonly meansformostreaderstoaccessthe the the translationofpoetrytends to be more difficult, and its resultsmore to reproduce the style of the originaltextin the targetlanguage.This that culture. text intothetargetlanguage.Like adaptations, literarytranslations are the BibleinitsoriginalHebrewversion? to readprosefictionwritteninrelatively minorordistantlanguages. uncertain, thanthetranslationofprosefiction. in a different language, as wellin adifferentlanguage, astherulesandconventions prevalent in preserving theexistentsofstory,itsnarrativeis successfulinfaithfully how many Europeans have read, or would be ableto read, the original stories across different cultures. someone withenoughproficiencyinallmajorlanguagesoftheplanet 10 9 Romance of the Three Kingdoms Three Romance ofthe

In short,literarytranslationis a creative endeavour, and onethatis Perhapstranslation ishow themostformidablechallengeofliterary But atranslationis far from being anexactreproduction of the original Susan Bassnettand André Lefevere, Johann WolfgangvonGoethe, (New York, NY:NorthPointPress,1994),p.132. (Clevedon, UK:MultilingualMatters,1998),pp.9–10. , with its heavy use of slang and local dialect, can be a The Da Vinci Code Conversationswith Eckermann 9 , intohundreds of languagesisasimple HowmanypeopleinChinaorJapan,for Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation Essays onLiterary Constructing Cultures: or the Pride andPrejudice Tale ofGenji 10 or ? Infact,howmany , trans. by John Oxenford , trans.by Don Quixote ? And Berlin

Woolf, Virginia, Wilde, Oscar, Peirce, CharlesSanders, Flaubert, Gustave,Flaubert, Farnsworth, Ward, Jakobson, Roman,‘LinguisticsandPoetics,’in Leech, GeoffreyN., Lakoff, George,andMarkJohnson, Goethe, JohannWolfgangvon, Bassnett, Susan,and André Lefevere, • • • • • York, NY:Dover Publications,1955). Translation and MarkOverstall (Oxford,UK:Oxford University Press,2004). Penguin, 2003). Pearson Longman,2008). Romantics, 2012). MIT Press,1960),pp.350–77. of ChicagoPress,2017). Godine, 2016). Oxenford (NewYork, NY:NorthPointPress,1994). A keyaspectofliterarystyle isforegrounding.Inorderto virtue of an arbitrary association. When symbolism is sustained virtue ofanarbitraryassociation.Whensymbolismissustained with atext.Style canbeattributedtotheimpliedauthor,but Events, environments, andcharacters in prose fiction become devices thatdiverge fromnormaloreveryday language. Figurativeor theuseoffiguresspeech,including language, phonology, syntacticstructure,lexicalchoice,etc.)associated often reliesonforegroundedlanguage,deployingfeaturesand Despite its complications and limitations, translation is theonly Despite itscomplicationsandlimitations,translation and engage the imagination of readers, narrative discourse also totherealauthor,andeven toaspecificculturalgroup. effectively communicate thecontentandmeaningofstory foregrounding inprosefiction. throughout thenarrative, thestorybecomesanallegory. hyperbole, oxymoron,andothers,isacommon form of means by which most readers can access the rich diversity of metaphor, simile,personification,metonymy,synecdoche, short storiesandnovels publishedthroughouttheworld. symbols whentheyrepresentsomethingotherthanthemselves by Style isthecharacteristicsetoflinguisticfeatures(rhythm, (Clevedon, UK:MultilingualMatters,1998). The Picture ofDorianGray The To theLighthouse Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric Language in Literature: StyleLanguage inLiterature: andForegrounding Philosophical Writing ofPeirce References Summary Conversations withEckermann , ed.byMax Bollinger (London,UK:Urban Metaphors We Live By Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Essays Cultures: Constructing , ed. by Robert Mighall (London,UK: Robert , ed.by Style inLanguage , trans.byMargaretMauldon , ed. by Justus Buchler(New , ed.by (Chicago,IL:University (Jaffrey, NH:David R (Jaffrey, (Cambridge,MA: , trans.byJohn (Harlow,UK:

6. Language 93

The pluralreflectsthefactthatmeaningsinfiction are always multiple various ways inwhichnarrative discourse can be articulatedinorderto yet addressed what isperhapsthemostcrucialquestionanyreaderasks when dealingwithastory: writers orreaders.Theseelementsofmeaningarewhat we callthemes. what happenswhenthesemeanings, as they oftendo, diverge? Should can be identified in narrative discourse, whether theyareidentified by In previouschapters,we have beenexaminingin somedetailhowprose © Ignasi Ribó,CCBY 4.0 or about the meaning that readers givemeaning that or aboutthe narratives tothe read? they And representation of a sequence of events, meaningfullyconnected by and changing. A theme, therefore, is simply a meaning identified by an effectively communicate stories to thereader, including theprocess of fiction isconstructedandcommunicated.We have seenhowstoriesare the intention of the author be the standardwithwhichweintention oftheauthorbe the determinethe time andcause.Butwhatexactlydowe meanby‘meaningful’? Are we interpreter ofnarrative discourse. It isimportanttostressthatthemes narrativeinterprets from hisorher ownperspective, texts generating often here we areonlyinterestedinexploring theelementsofmeaningthat meanings thatareatleastasvalid asthosegeneratedbytheauthor? meaning ofanarrative text?Orshouldwe recognisethatevery reader setting, andcharactersintoacharacterisation.We have also looked at the shaped bythearrangementofevents intoaplot,environments speaking aboutthemeaningthatauthorsgive tothenarratives theywrite, narration and the use of specific features of language. Butwe have not 1 At thebeginningofthisbook, we definednarrative asthesemiotic While literarytheoryhas been asking thesequestions for alongtime, For an introduction to these and other debates in literary theory, see Terrytheory, For anintroductiontotheseand other debatesinliterary Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction 2008); JonathanD.Culler, Oxford University Press,2011). 7. Theme what doesitmean? Literary Theory: A Very ShortIntroduction (Minneapolis,MN:University ofMinnesotaPress, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0187.07 (Oxford,UK: 1

7. Theme 95 Prose Fiction 96 When someoneaskswhatashortstoryornovel isabout,we tendto worldview. As we willsee,every narrative is ideological, but ideologycan which encompasses the ideas, values, and beliefs thatstructurea we willdiscuss hownarrativesto identity themes relating oftenexplore conveyed bythisdiscourse,withthelifeworldofreadersandwriters. consider whether writersshould use prose fiction tointervene insociety considerations regarding themoralandpoliticalsignificanceofprose In ordertorespondthisquestion,we needtoidentifyandgive an perspective onthestory. provided by thenarrator.Inmanyshort stories and novels, especially or confinethemselves topurelyartisticpursuits. object ofpassionatediscussions. weAs aconclusiontothistextbook, will of themeandweto locateitsexpressioninprosefiction.Then willtry of narrative discourse, the themeisusuallyalsorelevant fortheactual of thestoryworld(see of discourse, not ofthestory.Theytelluswhatstorymeans,for readers, who might agreeor disagree with the framing of the theme respond withasynopsisorsummaryoftheplot.Theonlythingwe do is the in ordertoemerge,whetherit require someformofinterpretation ambiguous orcomplexrepresentationofhumanmorality.Thefunction attempt topersuadereadersofamoraltruth,whileothersprovide a more and alterity, particularlyinconnection with genderand ethnicity. An author, a critic, or any otherreader who provides such interpretation. It environments, and characters, and explain them inourownwords.Buta environments, andcharacters,explain fiction, particularlyinthemodern world. We willseethatsome narratives those withanomniscientnarrativeidentified voice,thethemesexplicitly the storyandaddsome form ofcommentary, whetheritistointerpret, the charactersinstoryworld,butforanyonewhohas aninterpretative is inthissense that themesconnectnarrative discourse, and thestory into thenarrative andtowhichsheisoftenquiteattached. Forexample,the interpretation ofatleastonethemeinthenarrative. Themesareelements in asynopsisistoidentifythekeyexistentsstory,includingevents, important notionintheanalysisofmeaningnarrative isideology, judge, generalise, or reflecton the events, environments, and characters synopsis isnotaproperanswer whensomeoneaskswhatthestorymeans. short stories and novels, aswell asotherliterarytexts,hasoftenbeen the by thenarratorreflectthemes thattheauthorhasintentionallyintroduced be expressed in differentways ineach text. This will leadus to some final Themes are oftenidentifiedexplicitlybynarratorswhentheytell In this final chapter,we willfirstexamineinsome detail theconcept 7.1 TheMeaningofNarrative Chapter 5 ). While the interpreter in thiscaseispart ). Whiletheinterpreter This might be because the narrator refrains from making explicit be becausethenarratorrefrainsfrommaking This might when writing the book, and it has been shared by many ofitsreaders shared by and ithasbeen book, the when writing girl, whodoesnotunderstandthemeaningof tragic events sheis 7.1). This conviction is very much at theheartofauthor’s intention case with unreliablenarrators,who are notfullyaware of themeaningof is conveyedstory, forinstancewhennarration the commentary about characters inthestoryworld, theonlydifferencebeingthatatleastthey In many other stories, however, the themes are not explicitly identified. omniscient narrator of Harriet Beecher Stowe’somniscient narratorofHarriet knowledge orperspective aboutthestoryworld,hisopinionsorcomments know thattheyaretelling astory.Non-narratingcharactersonlyexist ambiguity of abortion.Butthisthemeisneverambiguity the expressedassuchby experiencing. Like for example,isnarratedfromtheperspective ofScout,asix-year-old from theinterpretationofreaders. frame or express it, atleastnot inthoseterms, this themecanonly emerge the story they are telling. The storyofHarperLee’s are telling. story they the to betheimmorality ofracialinequality. Butsince the girlisnotableto throughout theyears. up withtheirowninterpretationsofwhatitallmeans. identifies the immorality ofslaveryidentifies the narrativetheme inthe as akey (Fig. having aconversation in aforsakentrainstation,leavingreaders to come might notreflecttheactualthemesofnarrative. Thisisgenerallythe story ‘Hills Like White Elephants,’ for example, seems to be the moral the Elephants,’ forexample,seemstobe story ‘HillsLikeWhite narrator, who merely conveys thewords and gestures of the couple by anobjective narrative voice.OnethemeinErnestHemingway’s short Regarding theme,internal narratorsareinasimilarpositiontoother Similarly, whenthenarratorisinwardly focalisedandhaslimited Uncle Tom’s Cabin , onekeythemeofthebookseems or,_life_among_the_lowly_(1852)_ org/wiki/File:Uncle_Tom%27s_cabin_-_ (14586176090).jpg Cabin Internet Archive BookImages,Public Harriet BeecherStowe, Fig. 7.1 Domain, Uncle Tom’sCabin (Boston:JohnP.Jewett, 1852), To KillaMockingbird

https://commons.wikimedia.

Uncle Tom’s Uncle Tom’s clearly ,

7. Theme 97 Prose Fiction 98 As mentioned at the beginning of this book, narrativeof thisbook, beginning As mentionedatthe fundamental isthe American dream;andmotifslikethegreenlightserve toreinforceand A keythemein Karamazov way bywhichwe humans make sense of ourselves and ourworld. Our generally have littlecontrol orinfluence.Thecomplexdynamicofidentity stories tell others, asthey is alsoconstructedby But ouridentity going. generally notaware ofthestoryasastory.Thus,unlikenarrator, discourse. Inmanycases,however, charactersexpressaspectsoftheme, characters develop ideas or opinions that connect with the themes links thesestatementswiththeoverall structureofthestorythatthemes own identityislittlemore than anarrative, astorythatwe tellourselves of thestory.ThisiscaseinFyodorDostoyevsky’s recur throughoutthestoryandoftenacquireasymbolicsignificance.For and how we areconstructed by them, is therefore anessentialaspect of and alterity,howwe construct ourselves, but also how we constructothers about usandplaceinthecontextofsocialnarratives over whichwe and others aboutwhowe are,wherewe come from, and wherewe are a passionatediscussionaboutGodandmorality,whichreveals manyof example, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s example, inF.ScottFitzgerald’s novel elements ofmeaninginnarrativethat discourse, motifsareexistents future, andmoregenerallythe American dream.Insofarasmotifs are that seems to representorsymbolise his hopes and expectations for the mansion isamotif across fromGatsby’s bay shines attheendof that the themesinnovel. And yet, itisonlywhenanexternalinterpreter they arenotabletoaddcommentaryorgive aninterpretationofthe usually symbolic, their meaningtends to relatenarrative theme.This in the form of subjective or general reflectionsabout crucial elements of in thestoryworldandtakepartstorybeingtold,buttheyare is thereasonwhymotifsaresometimes called ‘minimal thematic units.’ highlight thisthemethroughoutthenarrative. meaning in the story. This is most common in so-called philosophical meaning ofevents, environments,andcharactersatthelevel ofnarrative narrative inall its forms. novels, whichoftenincludelongdialoguesormonologueswhere begin toemerge. ead Prince, Gerald 2 Finally, themesshouldnotbeconfused with motifs.Ifthemesare 2003), p.97. , forexample,wherethebrothersIvan and Alyosha engagein The Great Gatsby The A Dictionary of Narratology 7.2 Identity is the decadence and unreality of the isthedecadenceandunreality (Lincoln,NE:University ofNebraskaPress, TheGreatGatsby , thegreenlight The Brothers 2

William Thackeray’snovel worldviews of a patriarchal society (see Fig. 7.2). It is only withthe with agiven in-group,aswell as to approachandtryunderstand out- groups suchasLGBTpeople,haveable touseprosefictionopenly been to distancereadersfrom groups. Butthesameillusioncanalsocontribute developmentwomen, aswellpolitics that ofidentity asotherminority construction ofthedifferentothersthatsustainanddemarcatesocial like BeckySharp,adualisticandimaginaryrepresentationoffemininity precisely the social process of defining oneself and others, particularly in oneself andothers,particularly social processofdefining precisely the Charlotte Brontë or George Eliot, had the courage or the opportunity to Charlotte BrontëorGeorgeEliot,hadthecourage theopportunity other innarratives mostlywrittenbymalescanbeseen,forexample,in out-groups thatareportrayed inways thatreinforcesocial stereotypes objects ofmaledesireandrepulsion. right, even iftheyoften hadtodo so by complyingwiththedominant relation totwoimportantdimensions of subjectivity:genderandethnicity. and novels thatrepresentedfemalesubjectivityandagency intheirown and negative biases. assigns tothem. As moststorieshave beenwrittenbymen,generally and thedifferentroles or psychological traits thatnarrative discourse and novels, particularlyinthedepictionofmaleandfemalecharacters explore themesofgenderidentityandsexuality,orsimply tospeakwith either angeliccreatures like Emmy Sedley or as dangerous temptresses from anandrocentricperspective,have they tendedtocastwomenin factors. These same factors are oftenreflected in thethemes of short stories females. Beyondobjective characterisationsofgender,however, human their own creativetheir the sole had traditionallybeen voice aboutthemesthat that serves tosupportpatriarchalvalues anddiscourses. thoughts, andparticipatefromwithininhisorherlifedecisions.This the construction of individual and collective identities,aswell asforthe identification. Only through narrativethrough identification. Only fictioncanwewe share(orthink illusion createdbyfictionisapowerful way toreinforce identification subordinate ordependentroles,oftenpresentingthemasambivalent share) thesubjective experienceofanotherindividual,accesshisorher break socialrestrictionsandconventions in ordertoproduceshortstories beings develop their own gender identitybased on subjective and social 4 3 In moderntimes,prosefictionhasbecomeaprivilegedvehicle for Gender refers to the set of characteristics that differentiate malesand Gender referstothesetofcharacteristicsthat Before thetwentieth century,onlyafewfemalewriters,such as On thispoint,seeChimamandaNgozi Adichie, ‘TheDangerofaSingleStory’(TED Sandra M. Gilbert andSusan Gubar, a_single_story and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination and theNineteenth-Century 2000). Global, July2009), 3 A crucial theme in many short stories and novels is https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_ Vanity Fair The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer , wherewomenarecharacterised as 4 Thisconstructionofthefemale (NewHaven, CT: Yale University Press,

7. Theme 99 100 Prose Fiction Domain, org/wiki/File:Villers_Young_Woman_ spirit (possiblyaself-portrait),Public ‘Young WomanDrawing’(1801),oil ‘others’ as inferior, docile, or underdeveloped, sustaining in more or less Notebook (see Fig.7.3). haveAnd they stories wherethey writing often donesoby whose themesoforientalsensuality,exoticism,andcorruption reflectand globalised world,previously colonised and othernon-Western peoples least in its modern form, originates to a large extent in Europeanculture least initsmodernform,originatestoalargeextent prerogative ofheterosexualmen. A novel likeDorisLessing’s other interethnic dynamics. Weinterethnic other prose fiction,at that forget should not of power, oppression, and resistance in thecontextof colonialism and kind oflegitimationcanbefoundinGustave Flaubert’snovel represent themselvesstories withthemesthatare assubjects, telling and feminist themes into a fragmentary narrativeand feministthemesintoafragmentary aims toreplicate that at preciselythesame time asEuropeanswere aworldwide beginning explicit terms the colonial project of Western powers. European narrativesethnocentrism, the these ofthisperiodoftenportray expansion thatallowed themtoachieve economic, military, andcultural the fragmentationof female consciousness amid social and individual hegemony attheexpenseofotherpeoples.Revealing anentrenched haveto recoverstruggling been and senseofagency own identity their depicting anindependentfeminine strengthen a stereotypical and objectifying view of Middle-Eastern and a stereotypicalandobjectifying strengthen short storiesandnovels have attemptedtoreflectonthedynamics struggles. non-European others. on canvas byMarie-DeniseVillers 5 As theprocessofdecolonisationgave way toapostcolonialand Ethnicity isanotherimportantthemeinmodernnarrative, asnumerous Edward W. Said, https://commons.wikimedia. , for example, mixes personal, professional, literary, political, Drawing.jpg Orientalism Fig. 7.2 (NewYork, NY:Vintage Books, 1979).

5 Oneexampleof this The Golden The Salammbô , We callideologytheinterconnectedsetofbeliefs,ideas,values, and why narratives areoftenused,consciously or not, tosustain the ideologies generally invisible,especiallyfortheindividuals or groupswhose views discourse is likely tobetacitly accepted as a valid and credibleone.This is consequences of Western colonialism in Africa from the pointofview positions, whetherwe adhere torationalism,liberalism,communism, or Chinua Achebe’s other structuredsystemsofthoughtandvalue. Theseideologiesinfluence not identifyhisbeliefsasconstitutingan or Buddhistwillprobably own individualandcollective perspective. Thisisthecase,forexample,in of certain social groups, usually those that havesocial groups,usuallythosethat of certain morepower,least orat But allofusare,inoneway oranother,subjecttodifferent ideological relevantand meaningfulforthem,expressingthosethemesfromtheir representation of their own lifeworld, the ideology that structures its a narrative manages to convince readers that itsstoryworld is averisimilar and opinionsarelargelydefinedbyit.Forexample,adevoutChristian else inourlifeworld,includingotherpeople. to alargeextentthemeanings we ascribetoourselves andtoeverything the colonised. the capacitytoproduce and propagatetheir discourses more effectively ideological viewswithoutnecessarilystatingoreven recognisingthem.If rather thewayworld, but ideological viewofthe are. thingsactually norms thatstructuretheworldviewofapersonorgroup.Ideologyis Narrative discourse is particularly effective atcommunicating Things Fall Apart Things 7.3 Ideology , anovel dealingwiththedestructive Wretched oftheEarth montrealprotest/19582249739 Fig. 7.3 Mural ofFrantzFanon,author https://www.flickr.com/photos/

, PublicDomain, The 101 7. Theme 102 Prose Fiction values andbeliefs. conveying orcontestingideology,whetherexplicitlyimplicitly.Infact, or collectiveis notideological.Therearefourdifferentways opinionthat or anotheratleastoneideologicalposition,justasthereisnoindividual again, consciously or not,byothergroupswithless power insociety,as there isnofictionnarrative whose discourse does not express in oneway to resistdominantideologiesandexpresstheirownsetof attempt they throughout society. in whichideologycanberepresentedthenarrative discourse of short stories andnovels: 6 1. 4. 2. Prose fiction has been, and continues to be,animportantvehicle for 3. See Terry Eagleton, Ambiguous (narration, language,theme).Forexample,inIanFleming’s (events, environments,characters)ornarrative discourse Critical Committed Casino Royale Concealed without necessarilyembracingor committing to an alternative while tryingtoconvince readers of thetruthfulnessitstenets. women heseduces,orthelanguagespeaks. worldview of British elites after theSecond World War, from without recognisingitasanideologicalcommitment. Yet, different characters, as in Thomas Mann’s novel opposition of self-interested groups like thecapitalists or the openly advocatetheidealsandvaluesportraying ofsocialism, by or ambiguous view of alternative ideological positions. For of theColdWar. aristocracy. a bleak representation of a totalitarian society inadystopian representation ofatotalitarian a bleak economic transformationtowardssociety, againstthe abetter everythingdenotes themasculine, imperialistic,andcapitalistic future, as a way to criticise both thecapitalistand socialist the working class as a heroic agent of political, cultural, and class asaheroicagent working the the sportscarsBonddrives totheenemieshefightsagainst, ideology often impregnatesthe representation of the storyworld ideology. George Orwell’sideology. George instance, ideologies can be advocated or symbolised by ideologies thatwerefor worlddominance at thetime struggling Socialist realistnovels, suchasMaximGorky’s : Prosefictionissometimescriticalofdominantideologies, : Prose fiction canembrace an ideologyimplicitly, : Prosefictioncanalsoembraceanideologyexplicitly, : Some prose fiction stories present amore ambivalent andothernovelsJames Bond, agent secret the about 6 At thesametime,however, narratives arealsoused, Ideology: An Introduction Ideology: An 1984 (Fig. 7.4), forexample,offers (Fig. (London,UK:Verso, 1991). The Mother The The Magic , lesson. We callthismessage the moral or thesis of the narrative. If there is an idea,theory,orlessonthattheimpliedauthoristrying topersuadethe a thesis,itisalways oneofthemostrelevant themesinthenarrative. But there might be other themes besides the thesis that the narrativethere mightbeotherthemesbesidesthethesisthat touches upon. Thethesisisanaspectofnarrativestory. Itis discourse,notofthe implied readertoaccept. have morals, even ifthese morals are notalways explicit.Fablespresent supernatural characters, often nonhuman animals who act likehumans, be leftimplicit. Traditional narrative genres like thefableor parable often Some fictional stories try toconvey anunambiguousmoralmessage or A thesis or moralcanbeexplicitly statedinthenarrative, butitcanalso Fig. 7.4 Mountain characters ofanalternative storyworld,asinUrsulaK.LeGuin’s planets, onebasedonhierarchicalcapitalism, the otheroneon other inafictionaluniverse. authoritarian communism, cooperate and compete with each also berepresenteddirectlybytheevents, environments,and and opinionsofvarious charactersinthestory.Ideologiescan around theFirstWorldWar areconveyed throughtheactions hedonistic, and nihilistic ideologies prevalent in Europe science-fiction novel Poster depictingBigBrother’s sloganfromGeorgeOrwell’s dystopian wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cropped-big-brother-is-watching-1984.png novel 1984 , wheretheliberal,humanistic, religious, conservative, . ByFredericGuimont,Free Art Licence, 7.4 Morality The Dispossessed The , wheretwodifferent https://commons. 103 7. Theme 104 Prose Fiction Candide wasliterature’s mainfunctionwas oftenassumedthat toeducatereaders with moral or existential alternatives that reflect the complexities and constitute thewholethemeofnarrative, asinthesisnovels. Tobesure, Potter series. But for the most part, literature is no longer tasked with Potter series.Butforthemost part,literatureisnolongertaskedwith In general,however, morallessonsinmodernprosefictiontendnotto French, ‘ philosophical messagearesometimescalled‘thesisnovels’ (fromthe of therealworld. optimistic worldviewisrepeatedlyshakenbythehardshipsanddisasters or puzzlingsituationsanddilemmas in ordertoprovidethelesson in a and providethemwithsomesortofmoralguidance.Toacertainextent, a moral thesis, especially in children’s or popular genres, as in the Harry a moralthesis,especiallyin children’sorpopulargenres, as in theHarry the education of readers. Rather, it is expected that it will present them the educationofreaders.Rather, itisexpectedthatwillpresentthem there arestillmodernfictionsthatexplicitlyandunambiguously present kinds oflessonsthat the but this isstillthecaseinmodernliterature, uncertainties of life. Moral lessons, therefore, are often mixed with other uncertainties oflife.Moral lessons,therefore,areoftenmixedwithother in ordertoconvey amoral lesson, while parablespresentambiguous more ambivalent andcontroversial. more roundaboutway. Thesegenreswere popularinthepast,whenit narrative and other forms of literary discourse provide today tendtobe Novels thathave acleardidactic purpose andexpoundamoralor Fig. 7.5 , which tells inasarcastic tone thestoryofayoungman whose roman àthèse sa Wle 18) poorpi pit n ad on: lue By albume. mount: card on print photographic (1884), Wilde Oscar Napoleon Sarony,PublicDomain, ’). An exampleofthiskindnovel isVoltaire’s File:A_Wilde_time_3.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ ‘the books that the worldcallsimmoralarebooksthatshowits ‘the booksthat A questionthathasoftenstirredcontroversy amongstwritersandreaders As oneofthecharactersinOscarWilde’s view that short storiesandnovelsview that shouldnotrefrainfromshowingwhat can make partialworldviews held by specific social groups seem natural stated innarrativeexplicitly concealed, insteadofbeing discourse,they In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel lessons and worldviews that tendedtoreflecttheideologies of writers political debates. political andsocialends. As we havenarratives, seen, theideathat or patriarchy,whichtodayaregenerallyconsidered oppressive and own shame’(seeFig.7.5). as its contestations, inthesame way that today’s narratives might reflect and common-sensical. In thepast,institutionslikeslavery, colonialism, and thesocietiesinwhichtheylived. Even whentheseideologieswere as iftheywere separate essences. In fact, as modern narratives often imply, educated people. And narratives reflectedthosevalues andideas, as well evil cannot be easily distinguished from one another, much less decanted evil cannotbeeasilydistinguishedfromoneanother,muchlessdecanted for example,themoraldualismthatdrives theplotandconstitutes to the point of providing a platform to propagate a certainideologyand to thepointofprovidinga platformtopropagate the values and ideas associated withcapitalism, democracy, socialism, themes and ideas, whichmay even contradict or underminemoralcertitude. unacceptable, were held asincontrovertibleby mostreasonableandwell- including shortstoriesandnovels, have adidactic function isnota is whether literarynarratives should be used as instruments to achieve is ugly,unpleasant,improper,orrevoltingaboutlifeandhumannature. main themeofthenarrative isundercutbytherealisationthatgoodand multiculturalism, orotherideologicalpositionsthat occupycurrent modern one.Narratives have traditionallybeenusedtoconvey moral morality is more a matter of perspective and interpretation, rather than a social andpoliticaldevelopments. still exercisedaninfluenceonreadersandhadthereforeimpact set ofabsoluteprinciplesorrulesthatpeopleshouldfollow. Should they usetheirnarratives to intervene inpoliticalargument,even sa Wilde, Oscar 7 What shouldwritersdoinrelationtotheseideasand controversies? Dominant ideologies, when presentedas convincing narrative fictions, One importantconsequence of thismoral relativism isthemodern 2003), p.208. The Picture of Dorian Gray 7.5 ArtandPolitics 7 The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , ed. by RobertMighall(London, UK: Penguin, The Portrait ofDorianGray The says, , 105 7. Theme 106 Prose Fiction Whether prosefictioncancontributetomaketheworldabetterplacein which tolive, helpingustosustainitsinjustices and immoralities, isstill concentrating instead on perfecting their art andwritingself-sufficient their instead onperfecting concentrating cannot isolatethemselvesand have fromreality to use responsibility the long aswe needtotellstoriesinorderbetterunderstandeachother. prosaic goals ofentertainment,itmightseem idle toaskthesequestions. position is exemplified byStephenDedalus, James Joyce’s fictional alter preacher foranycause,nomatterhownobleorjustifieditmightbe.This prose fictions? to convertpolitical stanceandfromtrying cause, while readers totheir persuade readers to embraceit?Orshould they refrainfrom taking a of countlessreaders,continuenonethelesstohave animpactintheworld. But even whenauthorsarenotawareown motivations oftheir or responsibilities, their stories, recreated at every readingbytheimagination aspiration to attain beauty or artisticperfection,andratherbythemore aspiration toattainbeauty a writershould not beboundtoanyideologyorasked to become the and critics who were concerned about thisquestion.For some, like an openquestion. And perhaps it is one that willremain unanswered as express itselfinunfetteredfreedom.’ ego inhis novel forms of exploitationandinjusticefoundintheworld. For others,however, the philosopherJean-Paul Sartre,authorofthenovel should aim ‘to discover themode of lifeorartwherebythespiritcan narratives toexpresstheirpoliticalcommitmentinthefaceofvarious by apersonalcommitment to bringaboutchangeinsocietyorbythe ae Joyce, James 8 • • • Ata timewhenmanyprosefictionwritersareperhapslessmotivated Both positionshave beendefendedinmoderntimesbywriters 2000), p.207. All narratives express some form of ideology —astructured Themes are meanings identifiable innarrative discourse (the constructionof others), particularly inrelationtogender whether itisthenarrator,author,orreader. Many themes in modern prose fictiondealwiththedynamics and ethnicity. andalterity and conflictsofidentity(theconstructiontheself) set ofvalues, ideas,andbeliefs —whetherdiscourse conceals by anyonewhohasaninterpretive perspective onthestory, A Portrait of the Artist asa Young Man A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Summary 8 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, , for whom the writer Nausea , writers Adichie, Chimamanda N., ‘The Danger of a SingleStory’ (TED Global, July2009), Wilde, Oscar, Prince, Gerald, Joyce, James, Eagleton, Terry, Eagleton, Terry, Culler, JonathanD., Gilbert, Sandra M.,andSusanGubar, Gilbert, Said, Edward W., • • Writer and the Nineteenth-Century LiteraryImagination Writer andtheNineteenth-Century University Press,2000). University Press,2011). Penguin, 2003). Press, 2003). Press, 2000). Minnesota Press,2008). story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_ contrary, shouldberegardedasapurelyartisticendeavour,free to promotesocialandpoliticalends,or,onthe contribute It isamatterofsomecontroversy whetherprosefictionshould others mightconvey moreimplicitorambivalent morallessons. to convincereadersacceptit,while or thesis,andattempt ambiguous terms. from externalaims. it, commits explicitly to further it, criticises it, or represents it in Some short storiesandnovels convey anexplicitmoral message,

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man The Picture ofDorianGray The A Dictionary of Narratology Ideology: An Introduction Ideology: An Literary Theory: An Introduction Orientalism Literary Theory: A Very ShortIntroduction (NewYork, NY:Vintage Books,1979). References (London,UK:Verso, 1991). The Madwoman inthe The Attic:Woman The , ed. by Robert Mighall (London,UK: Robert , ed.by (Lincoln,NE:University ofNebraska (Minneapolis,MN:University of (Oxford, UK: Oxford University (NewHaven, CT:Yale (Oxford,UK:Oxford 107 7. Theme

Aristotle, Adichie, Chimamanda N., ‘The Danger of a SingleStory’ (TED Global, July2009), H. Porter, Abbott, Bridgeman, Teresa, ‘TimeandSpace’,in Booth, Wayne C., Booker, Christopher, Bill, Valentine Tschebotarioff, Bassnett, Susan,and André Lefevere, Bascom, William, ‘TheFormsofFolklore:ProseNarratives,’ Barthes, Roland,‘IntroductiontotheStructural Analysis ofNarrative,’ in Barthes, Roland, Bal, Mieke, Bakhtin, MikhailM., Bakhtin, Mikhail M., Burroway,Janet, Buchanan, DanielCrump, Vintage, 1994),pp.251–95. Translation 1983). 1973). Barthes Reader (Minneapolis, MN:University ofMinnesotaPress,1984). Folklore Philosophical Library,1987). Holquist andCaryl Emerson(Austin, TX:University ofTexas Press,2011). Press, 1989). Continuum, 2004). Cambridge University Press,2008), Chicago Press, 2019), of TorontoPress,2017). story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_ by David Herman(Cambridge,UK:Cambridge Universityby Press,2007),pp. 52–65,

Poetics https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 , 78.307(1965),3–20. Narratology: IntroductiontotheTheoryofNarrative (Clevedon, UK:Multilingual Matters, 1998). , trans.byMalcolmHeath(London,UK:Penguin Books,1996). Writing Fiction: to NarrativeA Guide Craft , ed. by Susan Sontag, trans.byStephenHeath(London, UK: The Rustle ofLanguage The The Rhetoric of Fiction The Cambridge IntroductiontoNarrativeThe The SevenThe Basic Plots: WhyWe Tell Stories The DialogicThe Imagination: Four Essays Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226616728.001.0001 Bibliography One Hundred Famous Haiku Hundred One Chekhov: The Silent Voice of Freedom (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816932 Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Essays Cultures: Constructing (Berkeley,CA:University ofCalifornia The Cambridge Companion toNarrativeThe (Tokyo: Japan Publications, (Tokyo:Japan (Chicago,IL:Universityof , ed. by Caryl Emerson The Journal of The American (Toronto:University , trans. by Michael , trans.by (Cambridge,UK: (NewYork, NY: (London,UK: A Roland , ed.

109 Bibliography 110 Prose Fiction Hühn, Peter, ed., Herman, David,‘Events andEvent-Types,’ in Herman, David, Herman, David,ed., Freytag, Gustav, Forster, E. M., Gustave,Flaubert, Farnsworth, Ward, Eco, Umberto, Eagleton, Terry, Eagleton, Terry, Culler, JonathanD., Coleridge, SamuelTaylor, Cohn, Dorrit, Cobley, Paul, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Chatman, SeymourBenjamin, Greimas, Algirdas Julien,andJosephCourtés, Goethe, JohannWolfgangvon, Sandra M.,andSusanGubar, Gilbert, Genette, Gérard, Theory 1985). 1993). Dictionary Writer and the Nineteenth-Century LiteraryImagination Writer andtheNineteenth-Century Film Fiction Composition and Art Composition Life andOpinions University Press,2011). UK: Routledge,2005),pp.151–52, University Press,1982). University Press,1990). University Press,2000). and MarkOverstall (Oxford,UK:OxfordUniversity Press,2004). Princeton University Press,1984). Cambridge University Press,2007), Minnesota Press,2008). 2009), 2009). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110316469 Godine, 2016). Oxenford (NewYork, NY:NorthPointPress,1994). (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversity Press,2000). , ed.byDavidHerman,Manfred Jahn,andMarie-LaureRyan (London, (Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversity Press,1988). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305920 , trans.byLarryCristand Daniel Patte (Bloomington,IN: Indiana Narrative Transparent Minds: NarrativeTransparent Modesfor Presenting Consciousnessin The OpenWork Aspects of the Novel Ideology: An Introduction Ideology: An Literary Theory: An Introduction Handbook of Narratology Basic Elements of Narrative Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners Freytag’s Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric , ed.byJamesEngellandWalter JacksonBate(Princeton,NJ: Literary Theory: A Very ShortIntroduction (London,UK:Routledge,2014). The Cambridge Companion toNarrativeThe , trans. by Elias J. MacEvan (Charleston, SC: Bibliobazaar, Biographia Literaria, or,Biographical Sketches of My Literary (Cambridge,MA:Harvard University Press,1989). Reading NarrativeFiction Story andDiscourse:Narrativein Fiction Structureand Conversations withEckermann (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203932896 https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 (NewYork, NY:Walter2009), deGruyter, (London,UK:Verso, 1991). The Madwoman inthe The Attic:Woman The

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Tuan, Yi-Fu, Woolf, Virginia, Wilde, Oscar, Prince, Gerald, Peirce, CharlesSanders, Page, Norman, Iser, Wolfgang, Joyce, James, Johansen, JørgenDines, Jakobson, Roman,‘LinguisticsandPoetics’,in Ryan, Marie-Laure, Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith, Margolin, Uri,‘Individuals in Narrative Worlds: An OntologicalPerspective,’ Margolin, Uri,‘Character’, in Manguel, Alberto, Lodge, David, Leech, GeoffreyN., Lakoff, George,andMarkJohnson, Onega Jaén,Susana,andJosé Angel GarcíaLanda,eds., Strunk, William, andE.B.White, Stam, Robert, Sklovskij, Viktor Borisovic, Said, Edward W., York, NY:Dover Publications,1955). Bunyan toBeckett Poetics Today (Bloomington, IN:IndianaUniversity Press,1991). (London, UK:Routledge,1996), Literature University of MinnesotaPress,2011). Herman (Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversity Press,2007),pp.66–79, Pearson Longman,2008), Press, 2000). Penguin, 2003). Press, 1991). Press, 2003). NY: Viking, 1993). Routledge, 2002), Romantics, 2012). MIT Press,1960),pp.350–77. of ChicagoPress,2017). org/10.3138/9781442676725 https://doi.org/10.1017/ccol0521856965 Bacon, 1999). (Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press, 2002), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Space andPlace:Perspective The ofExperience Film Theory: An Introduction The Art ofFiction: IllustratedfromClassicandModernTexts The Picture ofDorianGray The Speech intheEnglishNovel A Dictionary of Narratology The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in ProseFiction from , 11.4(1990),843–71 To theLighthouse Orientalism A HistoryofReading (Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1995). Language in Literature: StyleLanguage inLiterature: andForegrounding Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, andNarrative Theory https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203426111 Philosophical Writing ofPeirce Literary Discourse: A Semiotic-Pragmatic Approach to Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics Theory of Prose (NewYork, NY:Vintage Books,1979). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315846125 The CambridgeCompanion to Narrative

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Fig. 1.7 Fig. 1.6 Fig. 1.5 Fig. 1.4 Fig. 1.3 Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.1 Arnold for thefirsteditionof Vongher, CCBY-SA 3.0, Title pageof the first editionofMiguelde Cervantes’ Quixote at Sun Valleyat Lodge, Idaho,1939.ByLloyd Arnold, Public Ignasi Ribó,CCBY. Public Domain, File:Collision_of_Costa_Concordia_5_crop.jpg Recoleta_-_El_Ateneo_ex_Grand_Splendid_2.JPG Ernest HemingwayLloyd posingfor a dust-jacketphotoby El Ateneo GranSplendid. A theatreconverted intoabookshop. Collision ofCostaConcordia,cropped(2012).ByRoberto Montferrat,’ 15th century.Bibliothèquenationalede France, ingenioso_hidalgo_don_Quijote_de_la_Mancha.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote#/media/File:El_ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buenos_Aires_-_ Domain, Decameron_BNF_MS_Italien_63_f_22v.jpeg Boccaccio, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo by Galio,CCBY-SA 3.0, Semiotic modelofnarrativeBy showninspeechbubbles. Semiotic modelofnarrative. ByIgnasiRibó,CCBY. jpg (1605).BibliotecaDigitalHispánica,PublicDomain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ErnestHemingway. Decameron Illustrations https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: : ‘The Story oftheMarchioness of Chapter 1 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ For Whom the Bell Tolls

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10 11 8 8 3 5 7 113 Illustrations 114 Prose Fiction Fig. 2.5 Fig. 2.4 Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.2 Fig. 2.1 Fig. 1.8 Fig. 2.9 Fig. 2.8 Fig. 2.7 Fig. 2.6 Title pageandportraitofRobinsonCrusoeinthefirstedition Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter. (7528990230).jpg (Charleston, SC:Bibliobazaar, 2009),CCBY. Museo GregorianoEtrusco,roomXI,Public (2009), capturedat 480–470 BC.FromVulci.PhotographbyJuanJoséMoral with theorderofevents alteredbyemplotment.ByIgnasiRibó, wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg Paris (1382). BritishLibraryRoyal 19B XVII, f. 109,Public Ignasi Ribó,CCBY. Ignasi Ribó,CCBY. Photo byKarenRoe,CCBY2.0, Public Domain, Illustration of‘HanselandGretel’by Arthur Rackham(1909), commons/d/d1/Hansel-and-gretel-rackham.jpg Robinson_Crosoe%2C_London%2C_1719.png Jastrow (2006),Public Domain, by photograph of RobinsonCrosoe of Dramatic Composition and Art CC BY. Miniature ofSt.GeorgeandtheDragon,ms. of of Daniel Defoe’s original byLysippos from 330 BC. Ludovisi Collection, org/wiki/File:The_Making_of_Harry_Potter_29-05-2012_ ef/St_George_Royal19BXVII_109.jpg f/f1/The_life_and_Strange_Surprizing_Adventures_of_ sphinx_MGEt_16541_reconstitution.svg Gustav Freytag, Domain, Diagram showing events interconnected by time and cause, Diagram showing events interconnected by timeand cause. By Diagram showingevents interconnectedbytimeonly.By Domain, BY-SA 4.0, Bust of Aristotle. MarbleRomancopyafteraGreekbronze Oedipus andtheSphinx.Tondoofan Attic red-figurekylix, Schema ofFreytag’spyramid. ByIgnasiRibó,basedon https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oidipous_ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/

Freytag’s Technique oftheDrama: An Exposition (1719).BritishLibrary, Ambre Troizat,CC The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ Chapter 2 , trans.byEliasJMacEvan https://commons.wikimedia.

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20 18 23 19 19 24 26 12 27 21 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 3.8 Fig. 3.7 Fig. 3.6 Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.4 Fig. 3.3 ‘The Art ofPainting’ (1666–1668),oiloncanvasJan Vermeer, by Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland#/media/File:Alice_ Vermeer_-_The_Art_of_Painting_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg Verwandlung#/media/File:Kafka_Verwandlung_016.jpg Metamorphosis Journey (B).jpg Potter saga,madewithcharcoal, acrylics andwatercolours. By Illustration ofLewisCarroll Public Domain, Hogwarts Castleintheride Pas-de-Calais, France(ca.1910),PublicDomain, Pit No.10oftheCompagniedesminesdeBéthune,Nord- com/p-1297523 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sains-en-Gohelle_-_ Fosse_n%C2%B0_10_-_10_bis_des_mines_de_B%C3%A9thune_ File:World_map_.jpg Fan art representing Lord Voldemort and Nagini, from the Harry Fan artrepresentingLordVoldemortandNagini,fromtheHarry John Tenniel,Domain, Public par_John_Tenniel_02.png Ribó, CCBY. Ribó, CCBY. Relationships between existentsinthestoryworld.ByIgnasi Cover ofanearlyGermaneditionFranzKafka’s Marcos Becerra, CCBY2.0, Map of Middle Earth, thefantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Mademoiselle OrtieakaElodie Tihange,CCBY4.0, fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Lord_Voldemort.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kafka_Die_ mbecerra/6402825573 Drawing ofawall barometer,PublicDomain, novels. CC BY-SA 4.0, Schema ofverisimilitude infictionandnonfiction.ByIgnasi Studios Islands of Adventure Orlando,Florida.Source:

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https:// https:// The 38 48 33 43 39 44 36 52 42 41 115 Illustrations 116 Prose Fiction Fig. 4.7 Fig. 4.6 Fig. 4.5 Fig. 4.4 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 5.4 Fig. 5.3 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 5.1 ‘Man without Qualitiesn°2’(2005),oilandmetaloncanvas. By ‘Don QuixoteandSanchoPanza atacrossroad,’ oil on ‘Madame Hessel enroberougelisant’(1905),oiloncardboard. 1913), PublicDomain, Tretyakov Gallery,PublicDomain, Theatre scene: two women making a call on a witch (allthree Warner Bros. Studio Tour, London: The MakingofHarryPotter. (7358054268).jpg (efter_1847),_0119NMK,_Nivaagaards_Malerisamling.jpg del_Cicerone_-_Mosaic_-_MAN.jpg Museo del CiceroneinPompeii,nowthe Archeologico wikimedia.org/wiki/Фёдор_Михайлович_Достоевский#/ wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%89douard_Vuillard_-_ Portrait ofFyodorDostoevskybyVasily Petrov (1872). Promotional stillfromthe1941film commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilhelm_Marstrand,_Don_ canvas. ByWilhelm Marstrand(1810–1873), CC01.0, Nazionale (Naples).ByDioscorides ofSamos, Public Domain, File:Edouard_Frederic_Wilhelm_Richter_-_Scheherazade.jpg Falcon-Tell-the-Truth-1941.jpg File:The_Catcher_in_the_Rye_(1951,_first_edition_cover).jpg First-edition cover of published inthe Édouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter, Erik Pevernagie, CCBY-SA 4.0, Madame_Hessel_en_robe_rouge_lisant_(1905).jpg org/wiki/File:Man_without_Qualities_n%C2%B02.jpg org/wiki/File:The_Making_of_Harry_Potter_29-05-2012_ of themwearmasks). RomanmosaicfromtheVilla theatre https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompeii_-_Villa_ media/File:Dostoevsky_1872.jpg Domain, By Édouard Vuillard, PublicDomain, Quixote_og_Sancho_Panza_ved_en_skillevej,_uden_datering_ Salinger, PublicDomain, Source: KarenRoe,CCBY2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maltese- National Board ofReviewMagazine Chapter 5 The CatcherintheRye https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ https://commons.wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia. TheMalteseFalcon Scheherazade https://commons. https://commons. (1951)byJ.D. , p.12,Public (before https:// ,

53 53 73 55 75 69 56 67 61 Fig. 5.5 Fig. 7.5 Fig. 7.4 Fig. 7.3 Fig. 7.2 Fig. 7.1 Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.1 ‘Young WomanDrawing’(1801),oiloncanvas byMarie-Denise A depictionofapigdressed as ahumancapitalisttoillustrate Villers depictinganindependentfemininespirit(possiblya 1910), PublicDomain, Earth (1835) by Ilya(1835) by Repin,PublicDomain, dystopian novel wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Repin_IE-Illustraciya-Zapiski- wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Wilde_time_3.jpg wiki/File:Villers_Young_Woman_Drawing.jpg Public Domain, Illustration ofNikolaiGogol’s short story ‘Diaryof a Madman’ Poster depictingBigBrother’s sloganfromGeorgeOrwell’s Harriet BeecherStowe, cabin_-_or,_life_among_the_lowly_(1852)_(14586176090).jpg File:Gustave_Flaubert_-_Trois_Contes,_page_66.jpg Facsimile of thefirstdraftGustave Flaubert’sshortstory‘A First pageoftheBookGenesisinGutenbergBible, Jewett, 1852),Internet Archive Book Images, Public Domain, Mural ofFrantzFanon,author sumasshedshego-Gogol_NV4.jpg self-portrait), PublicDomain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cropped-big- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uncle_Tom%27s_ https://www.flickr.com/photos/34239598@N00/16143409811 montrealprotest/19582249739 George Orwell’s Bibel#/media/File:Gutenberg_Bible_B42_Genesis.JPG By NapoleonSarony,Public Domain, Oscar Wilde (1884), photographicprint on card mount: albume. brother-is-watching-1984.png Simple Heart’(Paris: EditionConarddes Oeuvres Complètes, , Public Domain, 1984 Animal Farm https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg- . ByFredericGuimont,Free Art Licence, Chapter 6 Chapter 7 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Uncle Tom’sCabin https://commons.wikimedia.org/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ . ByCarlGlover, CCBY2.0, The Wretchedof the (Boston:JohnP. https://commons. https://commons.

100 103 104 101 78 84 97 81 91 117 Illustrations

Alice’s Adventures inWonderland Wikipedia textshave been modified, expanded, or adapted as needed. 1984 The followingextractsfromWikipedia provideabriefsummaryofthe wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(novel) with thesentientcomputerHalafterdiscovery ofamysterious 2001: A SpaceOdyssey war, omnipresentgovernment surveillance, andpublicmanipulationby criminal bytherepressive stateapparatus. Hyperlinks tothefullentriesaregiven inordertohelpstudentsfind Nineteen_Eighty-Four populated by peculiar, anthropomorphiccreatures. populated by of theirownresearch. org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland a girlnamed Alice who falls down a rabbitholeintofantasy world a partymemberwhobecomesdisaffectedandisprosecutedasthought a totalitarianpartyanditsleader,BigBrother.Thenovel tellsthestoryof additional informationandreferencesaboutthesenarratives inthecourse short stories and novels cited as examples throughout the textbook. The novel, writteninparallelwiththefilm ofthesamenamedirected black monolithaffectinghuman evolution. by StanleyKubrick.Itnarratesavoyage toJupiterof ahumancrew (1949) byGeorgeOrwell: A dystopiannovel setinaworldofperpetual Examples of Short Stories Examples ofShortStories (1968)by Arthur C.Clarke: A science-fiction and Novels – A (1865)byLewisCarroll: A novel about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia.

119 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 120 Prose Fiction Around the World in Eighty Days in Eighty the World Around Anna Karenina Farm Animal The Ambassadors Bridget Jones’sDiary Blanquerna Berlin Alexanderplatz wiki/Animal_Farm Bible consider to beaproductofdivineinspirationandrecord of the Newsome, his widowed fiancée’s supposedly wayward son. The third- Franz Biberkopf, aconvictedmurdererwhocomesoutfromprisonand Franz life oftheeponymoushero,anoblemanwhofollowshis religiousvocation proverbs, letters,andotherwritings. person narrative istoldexclusively fromStrether’s pointofview. Club. oppressiveprevious one. as the andtyrannical of protagonistLewis Lambert StrethertoEuropeinpursuitofChad relationship between Godandhumans.Itcontainstextsfromdifferent realist novels. affluent CountVronsky.Itisregardedasoneofthemostaccomplished and is eventually elected as Pope. Itis a major work of literature written authors and epochs, including narratives, songs, codes, chronicles, employed French valet Passepartout, as they attempttocircumnavigate enslavedpigs, whoestablishanewsystemas the by andexploited en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambassadors farm where animals revolt againsttheirhumanowners only tobecome form ofapersonaldiary chronicling ayear inthelifeofBridget Jones, the worldin80daysona£20,000wager setbyhisfriendsattheReform in Catalanandoneofthe earliest predecessors of themodernEuropean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Alexanderplatz struggles tosurvive inthe underworldofBerlinduringtheinterwar years. story of a married aristocrat/socialite and her extramarital affair with the narrating the story of the English aristocrat Phileas Fogg and hisnewlythe storyofEnglisharistocratPhileasFogg narrating novel. narrating, throughmontageand multiple pointsof view, thestoryof : A collectionof sacred texts orscriptures that Jews and Christians https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_Eighty_Days https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanquerna (ca. 1283)byRamon Llull: A medieval novel chronicling the (1945) by George Orwell: (1945)by a about A politicalallegory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina (1878)byLeo Tolstoy: A Russian novel narratingthetragic (1903)byHenryJames: A novel thatfollowsthetrip

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(1879–1880) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A – C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https:// https:// https:// 121 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 122 Prose Fiction ‘Diary ofaMadman’ ‘The Dancing Girl ofIzu’ A utopianscience-fictionnovel set intwodifferentplanetsdivided into The DaVinci Code The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia Dispossessed: An Ambiguous The Bums The Dharma The Decameron The_Dancing_Girl_of_Izu villa justoutsideFlorencetoescapetheBlackDeath. Crime andPunishment Daphnis andChloe wiki/Diary_of_a_Madman_(short_story) when hebecomesinvolvedbetween inabattle powerful enemiesover a with ayoungdancinggirlduringbriefencounterherfamilyof with acapitalisteconomy and patriarchalsystemtheotherwithan protagonist’s searchformeaningonhistripacross the Western United Raskolnikov, animpoverished ex-studentinSaintPetersburg whokillsan Crime_and_Punishment of the1960s. org/wiki/The_Decameron religious mystery. an American symbologist afteramurder in theLouvre Museum in Paris, and elegiac short story narratingtheinfatuationof a Tokyostudent authoritarian systemthat claims toruleinthenameofproletariat. era ofNicholasI,ashedescends into insanity. the personaldiaryofaminorcivilservant inRussiaduringtherepressive unscrupulous pawnbroker for hermoney. unscrupulous pawnbroker itinerant performers ontheIzuPeninsula.itinerant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis_and_Chloe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dispossessed severaltwo politicalandmilitaryrivals, statesanddominatedby one stories) toldbyagroupofyoungmenandwomenshelteringinsecluded shepherds. It isoneofthemostancientpredecessors of themodern novel. novellovetells the that storyandadventuresof acoupleyoung novel aboutthementalanguishand moral dilemmas of Rodion States. The book had a significant influence on the hippie counterculture hippie States. Thebookhadasignificantinfluenceonthe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dharma_Bums (1353) by Giovanni (1353)by Bocaccio: A collectionof https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code (2ndcentury)byLongus: An Ancient Greekpastoral (2003) byDanBrown: A thrillernovel thatfollows (1835) byNikolaiGogol: A shortstorypresentedas (1958) by Jack Kerouac: (1958) by A novelthe narrating (1866)byFyodor Dostoyevsky: A Russian (1926) by Yasunari Kawabata: A lyrical – D (1974)byUrsulaK.LeGuin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia. novelle (short ‘Funes the Memorious’ The Fall Germinal ‘The Fall of the HouseofUsher’ ‘TheFallof Finnegans WakeFinnegans Dubliners Don Quixote words touniqueeffect. wiki/The_Fall_(Camus_novel) English lexicalitemsandneologisticmultilingualpunsportmanteau can rememberevery singledetailofhisexperiences. from crumbling houseofhisfriend,RoderickUsher,afterreceivingaletter Clamence, reflectsuponhislifetoastranger. org/wiki/Funes_the_Memorious The entire one ofthemostdifficultworksfictioninEnglishlanguage. org/wiki/Dubliners out torevive chivalry,justice totheworldunder undo wrongsandbring of chivalric romances, recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, and sets of Montsouinthefarnorth ofFrancetoearnalivingasminer. Dublin intheearlyyears of the twentieth century. Don_Quixote a youngmigrantworkerwho arrives attheforbidding coalminingtown the unnamed narratorarrivingat the with begins that and agothicmystery en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germinal_(novel) form anaturalisticdepictionofIrishmiddle-class life inandaround the nameofDonQuixotedelaMancha. the firstand one of the greatestmodern novels, it tellsthestoryof a included intheanthology him. middle-aged impoverishedsquire who,deludedbyhisreadings country man who acquires a prodigious memory after sufferinga head injury and series of dramaticmonologues in whichtheprotagonist,Jean-Baptiste book is written inalargelyidiosyncratic language, whichblends standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_the_House_of_Usher (1956)by Albert Camus: A philosophicalnovel consistingofa (1885) byÉmileZola: A naturalisticnovel narratingthestoryof (1914) byJames Joyce: A collection offifteenshortstories that (1605–1615) byMigueldeCervantes: Generallyconsidered (1939) by James Joyce: (1939)by An avant-gardenovel, considered https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake (1942)byJorgeLuísBorges: A shortstory, Ficciones – G – F (1839) by Edgar (1839) by Allan Poe: A shortstory , tellingthestoryofIreneoFunes,a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia. https:// 123 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 124 Prose Fiction The Grapes of Wrath The GoldenNotebook Golden Ass The The GodofSmallThings The Great Gatsby The_God_of_Small_Things Gulliver’s Travels Great Expectations Gone withtheWind Metamorphoses wiki/The_Great_Gatsby wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath writer intermingle Anna Wulfthroughfragmentsofhernotebooksthat wiki/Gulliver%27s_Travels distant andimaginarylands, inhabited bycivilisations and creatures that different aspectsofherpersonal,political,andlifeexperiences childhood experiences offraternaltwinswhoselives aredestroyed claw her way outof poverty followingthedefeatofConfederates in the prosperous LongIslandinthesummerof1922. and developmentpersonal growth ofanorphannicknamedPip,ashe plantation ownerinGeorgia,whomustuseevery meansatherdisposalto Civil War. on a long journey, literal and metaphorical, to recoverand metaphorical,to literal journey, on along hishumanform.It obsession for thebeautifulformer debutanteDaisyBuchanan,seton of theJoads,apoorfamilytenantfarmersdriven fromtheirOklahoma ridicule aspectsofhuman natureandsociety. reflections. accidentally turns himself into anass while practicingmagic and sets out and mysteriousmillionaireJayGatsbyhisquixotic passionand en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Ass the adventures ofLemuelGulliver, as he isrepeatedlyshipwreckedin tries toescape poverty in themidst of England’s industrial expansion. is theonly Ancient Romannovel inLatintosurvive initsentirety. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Expectations home bydrought,economic hardship, agriculturalindustrychanges,and struggles ofyoungScarlettO’Hara,thespoileddaughterawell-to-do by social constraintsandobligations. by bank foreclosuresduringtheGreatDepression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Notebook , this Ancient Roman novel tells the storyof Lucius, who (ca.170)byLucius Apuleius: Also knownas (1925)byF.ScottFitzgerald: A novel abouttheyoung (1726)byJonathanSwift: A satiricalnovel narrating (1861)byCharlesDickens: A novel thatdepictsthe (1936)byMargaretMitchell: A novelthe narrating (1939)byJohnSteinbeck: A novel tellingthestory (1962)byDoris Lessing: A novel tellingthestoryof (1997) by Arundhati Roy: A novel aboutthe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https:// The ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ ‘Hansel andGretel’ The Human Comedy The Human The Hobbit Trojan War, theten-yeara coalitionofGreek siegeofthecityTroy by Iliad If onaWinter’s NightaTraveller Heart of Darkness Heart Potter andthePhilosopher’sHarry Stone Lost Illusions La_Com%C3%A9die_humaine July Monarchy(1830–1848),includingsuchnovels as depicting FrenchsocietyduringtheRestoration(1815–1830) andthe discovers hismagicalheritageashemakesclosefriendsandafewenemies If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler postmodern novelto reada the readertrying a storyabout framedby org/wiki/The_Hobbit org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness Marlow’s obsession with theivorytraderKurtz,ashesetsouttofindhim recover thetreasureguarded bySmaugthedragon. at aSpanishtrainstationwhilewaiting foratraintoMadrid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Like_White_Elephants en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher%27s_Stone en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel focusing onaconversation between an American manand a woman the wizardGandalf and apartyofthirteendwarves, whosetoutto tale thatrecountstheordealofayoungbrotherandsisterkidnapped in themostremotepartsofCongoRiver basin. in hisfirstyearHogwarts at SchoolofWitchcraftand Wizardry. humaine narrates the quest of Bilbo Baggins, a home-loving hobbit, together with narrates thequestofBilboBaggins,ahome-lovinghobbit, novel in the HarryPotterseries, it tells the storyof a young wizard who book withthesame title asthenovel. by acannibalisticwitchlivinginforesthousebuiltofcandy. (ca. 750BC)byHomer: An Ancient Greek epicpoemsetduringthe is amulti-volumecollectionofinterlinkednovels andstories (1937) by J. R.Tolkien: (1937)by A children’sfantasynovel that , amongstmanyothers. (1899)byJosephConrad: A novella thattellsthestoryof (1830–1850)byHonorédeBalzac: (1812) by the BrothersGrimm: (1812) by A Germanfairy (1927) byErnest Hemingway: A short story – H – I (1979) by Italo Calvino: A (1997)byJ.K.Rowling: The first

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia. Père Goriot La Comédie https:// https:// https:// or 125 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 126 Prose Fiction ‘The Killers’ Africa, hisexperienceoftherise American capitalism,andhistime Journey tothe End oftheNight Jane Eyre Western tradition. Infinite Jest Infinite I, Robot In SearchofLostTime volumes that follows thenarrator’svolumes that recollectionsofchildhoodand warrior in the literature work ofancient most influential is the Achilles. It wiki/The_Killers_(Hemingway_short_story) growth toadulthoodandherlove forMrRochester. Journey_to_the_End_of_the_Night criminals whoenterarestaurant seekingtokillaboxer,whoishiding In_Search_of_Lost_Time philosophical novel narratingtheexperiencesofantiheroFerdinand postmodern novel centredonajuniortennisacademy and anearby on manytopics,includingaddictionandrecovery, suicide,family out for unknown reasons. Hemingway’s minimalist use of anobjective of human nature, institutions, and society. org/wiki/Jane_Eyre Bardamu during theFirstWorldWar, andhissubsequentlifeincolonial relationships, entertainment and advertising,relationships, entertainment and tennis. film theory, emotions and experiences ofitseponymous heroine, includingher to early- experiences intoadulthoodduringlate-nineteenth-century twentieth-century upper-class France. werethat a quarrelbetween dominatedby King Agamemnon andthe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest states. Ittellsof the battlesandevents thattookplaceduringtheweeks spent inbourgeoisFrance,whileexpressinganihilistic andcynicalview a commonnarrativestories sharing interaction theme ofthe frameandthe substance-abuse recovery centre,touchingwithhumourandmelancholy narrator inthisstorywas highlyinfluential. between humansandrobots. (1950)byIsaac Asimov: A collection of science-fiction short (1847)byCharlotteBronte: An English novel narratingthe (1996) by David FosterWallace: (1996)by A complexandmultifaceted (1927) by Ernest Hemingway:(1927) by a pairof A shortstoryabout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad (1913–1927)byMarcelProust: A novel inseven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot – K – J (1932) by Louis-Ferdinand Céline: A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia. Vicomte deValmont, tworivals (andex-lovers) whouseseductionas The MalteseFalcon The Magic Mountain the Rings The Lordof The ManWithoutQualities Lolita Les Liaisonsdangereuses The_Lord_of_the_Rings The novel takesplaceduringthelastdaysof the Austro-Hungarian wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(novel) who supposedly ran offwithacrook, and gets him involved inthesearch Madame Bovary Hans Castorp,whoundertakesajourneytovisithistubercular cousin in a lives beyondhermeansinordertoescapethebanalitiesandemptinessof provincial life. It is considered one of the masterpieces of realist narrative professor, with atwelve-year-old girl,Dolores Haze, aftercontrivingto org/wiki/The_Magic_Mountain one ofthemostsignificant Europeannovels ofthetwentieth century. a beautiful young woman whohires SamSpadetofindhermissingsister, a beautifulyoung powerabsolute Lord Sauron. Dark tothe and sexualrelationshipofHumbertHumbert,amiddle-aged literature a weapon tosociallycontrolandexploitothers,allthewhileenjoying en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Liaisons_dangereuses epistolary novel tellingthestoryofMarquise de Merteuil and the for thejewel-encrusted statuetteofafalcon. for seven years, untiltheFirstWorld War concludes. their cruelgamesandboastingaboutmanipulative talents. through Middle Earth withtheaim of destroying theringthatcould give in literature. modernist novel inthreevolumes and various drafts considered to be men, adwarf, anelf,andawizard,as theysetoutonadifficultjourney sanatorium inDavos,highuptheSwiss Alps, andendsupstayingthere story ofEmma Bovary, thewifeofadoctor who hasadulterousaffairsand noveltwo constituted ofafewhobbits, thattellsthestoryofaparty become herstepfather. (1955) by Vladimir (1955)by Nabokov: A novelnarrates theobsession that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Bovary (1856)byGustave Flaubert: A Frenchnovel narratingthe (1929) byDashiellHammett: A detective novel about (1924)byThomas Mann: A novel tellingthestoryof (1954–1955) by J. R.Tolkien: (1954–1955)by An epicfantasy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita (1782) by Pierre ChordelosdeLaclos: (1782)by An (1930–1943)byRobertMusil: An unfinished – M – L https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia. https:// 127 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 128 Prose Fiction Ahab’s legattheknee. The Mother The Metamorphosis The_Mother_(Gorky_novel) The_Man_Without_Qualities Odyssey with hisfatherintheNaziGermanconcentrationcamps at Auschwitz and Night Nausea Mrs Dalloway Moby Dick day inthelifeof Clarissa Dalloway, afictionalupper-class woman in post- Nausea_(novel) First-World-War England. labour and fighting povertyand fighting labour hardships, in among other and hunger on Moby Dick, the white whale that, on apreviouswhalingvoyage,whale that, white Dick, the on Moby off bit org/wiki/The_Metamorphosis on hisintellectualandspiritualfreedom. Buchenwald in1944–1945,toward theendofSecond World War. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_(book) to Ithacaofthewar heroOdysseus (known asUlysses in Romanmyths) to Homer.Partly asequeltothe the midstofrevolutionaryunrest. the lifeofawomanwhoworksinRussianfactorydoinghardmanual travelling salesman, who wakes up tofind himself transformed into agiant that narratestheawkward andagonisingexperienceofGregorSamsa, a ironical dissectionsthemes concerning onawiderangeofexistential insect and becomes estranged from his own family. historian who experiences withasense of nausea how reality encroaches humanity, society,culture,andidentity. monarchy, and hasawindingplotthatoftenveers intoallegoricaland story oftheobsessive questof revengeAhab, captainofawhaler,totake (1960) byElieWiesel: A novel basedontheauthor’s experience (1938) by Jean-Paul(1938) by Sartre: novelAn existentialist aboutadejected (ca. 750BC)byHomer: An Ancient Greekepicpoemattributed (1851)byHermanMelville: An adventure novelthe telling (1906) by Maxim Gorky: (1906) by A socialist realistnovel, portraying (1925) by Virginia Woolf: Virginia (1925)by Woolf: A modernistnovela narrating (1915)byFranzKafka: A novella writteninGerman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Dalloway Iliad – N – O , ittellsofthehazardous return home https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia. https:// The Old ManandtheSea Pale Fire One Thousand andOneNights One Thousand One HundredYears ofSolitude Oedipus Rex On theRoad Latin American literary boom of the 1960s and 1970s. Jocasta. Pale_Fire Forty Thieves,’Forty ‘SindbadtheSailor,’or‘Aladdin andtheMagicLamp.’ poem titled‘Pale Fire,’writtenbythefictionalpoetJohnShade,witha patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the townof Macondo, in the org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea remaining aliveSome ofthestories inthebook thankstoherstorytelling. academic colleague,Charles Kinbote. as themasterpieceofgenre.ItdramatisesstoryOedipus,who in works ofliterature after thefallofTroy.Itisonemostinfluential foreword and lengthycommentary written byShade’s neighbour and folk tales compiled in Arabic during theIslamic Golden Age and framed the UnitedStatesoftwocounterculturalcharacters, whotrytolive as story ofseveralthe telling Buendía family,whose generationsofthe tells the storyof an epic betweenbattle an aging, experienced fisherman, the Western tradition. is considered the most significant literaryworkoftheBeatgeneration. intensely as possible againstabackdropofjazz, poetry, and drug use. It he would kill his father, Laius (the previous king), and marryhismother, previous king), Laius (the he wouldkillhisfather, a prophecythat fulfilling of Thebeswhileunwittingly has becomeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights have becomewidelyknownaroundtheworld,suchas‘Ali Babaandthe metaphoric countryofColombia.Themagicalrealiststyle andthematic substance ofthenovelrepresentativeas animportant establishedit ofthe by thestoryofasultanandhiswifeScheherazade,whosucceeds in Santiago, andalargemarlinnearthecoastofCuba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_Rex (1966)byVladimir Nabokov: A novel presentedasa999-line (429BC)bySophocles: An Athenian tragedywidelyregarded (1957)byJackKerouac: A novel narratingthetravels across https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey (1952)byErnest Hemingway: A novella that (medieval): A collectionofMiddle-Eastern (1967) byGabrielGarcíaMárquez: A novel – P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia. 129 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 130 Prose Fiction ‘A Reporttoan Academy’ A Portrait ofthe A Portrait Artist asaYoung Man The RedandtheBlack Gray Dorian of The Picture The Road Pride andPrejudice The_Road Robinson Crusoe Robinson wiki/A_Report_to_an_Academy work, deception,andhypocrisy.The title referstothetension between wiki/A_Portrait_of_the_Artist_as_a_Young_Man destroyed mostoflifeandcivilisation. difference between thesuperficialandessential. culminating inhisself-exilefromIreland. learns the error of making hastyjudgements and comes to appreciate the org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice of aconferencegiven byanapenamedRedPeter, whotellshisscientific Dedalus, a fictionalalteregoofJoyce,ashequestionsandrebels rescued. against theCatholicandIrishconventions underwhichhehasgrown, allows that man whomakesaFaustianbargain a handsomeyoung about autobiography bytheeponymous character, acastaway whospends audience howhelearnedtobehave likeacivilisedhumanandhow encountering cannibals,captives, andmutineers,beforeultimatelybeing en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_and_the_Black en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray twenty-eightyears onaremotetropical desertislandnearTrinidad, telling thejourneyof a father and his young son over a period of several the clerical (black) and secular (red)interestsoftheprotagonist. the emotionaldevelopment oftheprotagonist,ElizabethBennet,who tracing thereligious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen he hasbeenaffectedbythistransformation. life andstayalwayshim topursueahedonisticandlibertine and young months, across alandscape blasted by anunspecifiedcataclysm that has novel chroniclingtheattemptsofaprovincialyoungmantorisesocially beautiful, whilehisportraitagesandrecords all ofhisexcesses. beyond his modest upbringing through acombinationoftalent,hard beyond hismodestupbringing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe (2006)byCormac McCarthy: A post-apocalyptic shortnovel (1719)byDanielDefoe: A novel presentedasan (1813)byJane Austen: A romance novel thatnarrates (1830)byStendhal: A historicalpsychological (1917) by Franz Kafka: (1917) by A shortstoryintheform (1890) by Oscar Wilde: (1890)by A philosophicalnovel – R (1916)byJamesJoyce: A novel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia. https:// https:// ‘The SnowsofKilimanjaro’ ‘A Scandal inBohemia’ ‘A SimpleHeart’ The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Three_Tales_(Flaubert)#.22A_Simple_Heart.22 The_Snows_of_Kilimanjaro_(short_story) Romance of theThreeKingdoms Romance Second Thoughts Sense andSensibility Salammbô wiki/A_Scandal_in_Bohemia with theirwidowed motherfrom their family home. during the3rdcenturyBC,immediatelybeforeandMercenary context ofaseventeenth-centuryPuritan colonyinMassachusetts. Paris to Rome to visithislover, whom he has not informedofhisarrival. person telling thestoryofamiddle-aged man who takesthetrainfrom Revolt whichtookplaceshortlyaftertheFirstPunicWar. org/wiki/Sense_and_Sensibility retainers, whotriedtoreplacethedwindlingHandynastyorrestoreit. affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity in the affair andstrugglestocreateanewlifeofrepentancedignity and romantic vicissitudes of the three Dashwood sisters as they moveDashwood sistersasthey three and romanticvicissitudesofthe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salammb%C3%B4 fatally injuredwhileona safari in Africa. the story of Hester Prynne, who conceivesstory ofHesterPrynne, the from anadulterous adaughter the ThreeKingdomsperiodinChinesehistory.Ittellsstory,part in awidow’s house asaservant. innocent andloyal peasantgirlnamedFelicitéwho picksupwork https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms historical, inpartlegendaryandmythical,ofthefeudallords and their https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Thoughts_(Butor_novel) solving amysteryinvolvingEuropeanroyalty. story featuringthefictionaldetective SherlockHolmes,whoisengagedin narrating thelastmoments and bittermemories of awriterwho hasbeen novel setintheturbulentyears towards the end of the Handynastyand (1862) byGustave Flaubert: A historical novel setinCarthage (1957)byMichelButor: A novel writteninthesecond (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne: (1850)by A historicalnovel telling (1877) by Gustave(1877) by Flaubert: an A shortstoryabout (1811)byJane Austen: A novel thatnarratesthelife (1891) by Arthur ConanDoyle: Thefirstshort (1936) byErnestHemingway: A shortstory (ca. 1321) by Luo Guanzhong:Historical (ca.1321)by – S https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://en.wikipedia. https:// https:// 131 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 132 Prose Fiction ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ ‘The Storm’ A SongofIceandFire The Sound and the Fury and The Sound The Sorrows ofYoung Werther Things Fall Apart Fall Things Tale ofGenji The_Storm_(short_story) The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther The_Tell-Tale_Heart The_Tale_of_Genji Strange Case ofDrJekyllStrange andMrHyde who arestrugglingtodealwiththedissolution of theirfamilyandits girl engagedtoanotherman.Itisoneofthemostinfluentialnovels of describing amurderhecommitted. Henry Jekyll, andtheevilEdward Hyde. low-ranking concubine,whiledescribingthecustoms of thearistocratic loosely autobiographicalnovel, presentedasacollectionofletterswritten post-colonial life in late-nineteenth-century Nigeria through thelifeof post-colonial lifeinlate-nineteenth-century reputation. affair between amarriedmanandwomanduringstorm an unnamednarratorwhoattemptstodemonstrate hissanity,while the modern novelthe Eastern tradition. inthe Genji, thesonofanancientJapanese emperoranda the lifeofHikaru thirty years inthelifeofCompson family, formerSouthern aristocrats the Romantic movement inliterature. the timeofwriting)seriesepicfantasynovels narratingtheconflicts investigates therelationshipbetweenfriend, Dr hisoldandreputable in nineteenthcenturyLouisiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire society oftheHeianperiod.Itisconsidered the earliestpredecessor of between rival kingdomsinthefictionalcontinentsofWesteros andEssos. by Werther, ayoungartistwhofalls in love withCharlotte,abeautiful Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde Stevenson: A gothic mysterynovella aboutaLondon lawyer who https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_and_the_Fury (1010)byMurasakiShikibu: A psychological novel recounting (1898) by Kate Chopin: (1898) by the sexual A shortstorynarrating (1958) by Chinua Achebe: A novel depicting pre- and (1843) by Edgar (1843) by Allan Poe: A shortstorytold by (1996-)byGeorgeR.Martin: An unfinished(at (1929) by William (1929)by Faulkner: A novel narrating (1774) by JohannWolfgangvon Goethe: A – T https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (1886)byRobertLouis Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 1910 and1920. The UnbearableLightnessofBeing Tristram Shandy To theLighthouse Tom Jones To KillaMockingbird The_Unbearable_Lightness_of_Being The_Life_and_Opinions_of_Tristram_Shandy,_Gentleman The_History_of_Tom_Jones,_a_Foundling To_Kill_a_Mockingbird village ofUmuofia. Uncle Tom’sCabin;or,Life amongtheLowly Ulysses Ulysses_(novel) cause. cruelty. A bestselleratthe time,thenovel helpedtofurthertheabolitionist philosophical novelnarrates thelives that oftwowomen,men,and of theeponymouscharacter.Itsstyle, marked bydigression, double of Alabama duringtheGreatDepression. a dog,whileexploringtheartisticandintellectuallife ofCzechsociety an ironicparalleltoHomer’s epic poem a youngblackmanaccused of rapingawhitewoman in asmall town entendre, and graphic devices, has been highly influential amongst influential entendre, andgraphicdevices,hasbeenhighly from thePragueSpringof1968toinvasion ofCzechoslovakia Okonkwo, anIgboleaderandlocalwrestlingchampion in thefictional the RamsayfamilyandtheirvisitstoIsleofSkye inScotlandbetween the lifeofTomJonesinordertoexplorehumannatureandcontrast in thelifeofsix-year-old ScoutFinchatthetimeofarrestandtrial influential works ofmodernistliterature. influential life ofLeopoldBloomThenovelin theDublin. isconstructedas modernist andpostmodernistauthors. southern UnitedStates,which pleadsforChristianlove toovercome between virtueand evil in human society. by theSovietUnionanditsaftermath. Stowe: A noveland immoralityofslavery depicting thebrutality inthe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin (1922) byJames Joyce: A novel thatchronicles an ordinaryday (1749)byHenryFielding: A comic morality talethatnarrates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_Lighthouse (1759–1767)byLaurence Sterne: (1927) by Virginia Woolf: (1927)byVirginia Woolf: A modernist novel centredon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_Fall_Apart (1960)byHarperLee: A novel narratingthreeyears is a novel purporting tobethe autobiography – U (1984)byMilanKundera: A Odyssey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (1852)byHarrietBeecher The LifeandOpinions of . Itisoneofthemost 133 Examples of Short Stories and Novels 134 Prose Fiction Vanity_Fair_(novel) Vanity Fair WarPeaceand The VirginSuicides The Unnamable Tsaristthe storiesoffive societythrough Russianaristocraticfamilies.Itis The_Unnamable_(novel) during andaftertheNapoleonicWars. consisting entirely of a disjointed monologue from the perspective of literary achievements. lives ofBeckySharpandEmmySedleyamidtheirfriendsfamilies person pluralfromtheperspective ofananonymousgroupteenage of theFrenchinvasion ofRussiaandtheimpactNapoleoniceraon regarded as a central work of Russian literature and oneofTolstoy’sfinest regarded asacentralworkofRussianliterature an unnamed and immobile protagonist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_Suicides boys who struggle to find an explanation for the deaths offivefor the to findanexplanation boys whostruggle sisters. (1847–1848) byWilliam Thackeray: A novel thatfollows the (1869) by Leo Tolstoy: (1869)by A novelhistory chronicles the that (1953)bySamuel Beckett: A modernist novel (1993) by Jeffrey Eugenides: Jeffrey (1993)by A novelfirst in the written https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace – W – V https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Atmosphere Archetype Antagonist Allegory Agency Adaptation Agon Biography Characterisation Character characters ofthestory. of events, environments,andcharacters. relationships between thingsandevents orcharacters. a societyandappearsinmanydifferentstoryworlds. tragedy. meanings, generallymoralorabstractideas,beyondtheliteralmeaning medium. struggles tofrustratehisorhergoals. : Ancient Greektermforconflict,particularlytheconflictfoundin Glossary ofNarrativeTerms : Thecapacitytoactinanenvironment. : A story that uses extended symbolism in order to communicate : An entitywithagencyinastoryworld. : A typethathasbecomepartofthepsychologyandculture : A narrative ofaperson’slife. : A characterinthestorythatopposesprotagonistand : A workbasedonastorypreviously toldinadifferent : Thequalityofanenvironmentthatreflectsmeaningful : The meaningful arrangement or presentation of the or presentation arrangement : Themeaningful – C – A – B 135 Glossary of Narrative Terms 136 Prose Fiction whose interaction orcontradictionisimportanttothestory’sinterpretation. Emplotment Embedded narration Discourse Dialogue tags Dialogue Dialogism Description Dead trope Conflict Conceit Commentary Collaborative fiction Climax Cliché Chronotope description oraccountoftheexistentsstoryworld. characters, oftenaccompaniedbydialogueorspeech tags. complex, awkward, or extreme tobeeffective, and tends to call attention creative controlofthenarrative. language andisnolongerrecognisedassuch. of itsoriginalforceandisperceived innegative terms. resulting inviolentconfrontation. accompany dialogue in prose fiction to provide information about the accompany dialogueinprosefictiontoprovideinformation about to itself,ofteninanegative way. implied authortothereader. maximum intensityanddecisive events takeplace. speakers, thequalityandtoneofspeech,environment, etc. narrative discourse. : A figure of speech that has been so overused that it has lost much : Stage in the evolutionof a plot inwhich the conflictachieves its (also, : Clashoftwoopposingwillsorgoals,sometimes(butnotalways) : Representation of verbal: Representation or speechinteractionsbetween : Themeansthroughwhichanarrative iscommunicated by the : Theuseinnarrative ofdifferentperspectives orviewpoints, : A figureofspeech that hasbeenincorporated into normal : Thetextualrepresentationofcharactersorenvironments. : Theconfigurationoftimeandspaceinlanguage : Thearrangementoftheevents of thestoryintoaplot. : Any pronouncementofthenarratorthatgoesbeyonda Farfetched trope (also, : A form of writingwheretwoormore authors share : A storythatisnarratedwithinanotherstory. Speech tags ): A figureofspeechthatseemstoostrange, – D – E ): Narrativeoften indicationsthat The use of language in waysThe useoflanguage literal meaningof deviate fromthe that when tellingthestory. words orsounds. other connotations andassociationswith words andsentences,exploiting External narratorornarratee Exposition Event Epiphany Environment discourse butnotanexistentofthestoryworld. characters, events, andenvironments. provides anewunderstandingoftheworldtocharacters. Fiction Farfetched trope Falling action Foreshadowing Foregrounding Focalisation Flashforward Flashback Figure of speech Figurative language and wanes, asitbeginstomove towards aresolution. environment. from thestory. from thestory. the normalorordinaryuse oflanguage. the charactersareintroduced. undertaken by characters and anything that happens toacharacterorits that undertaken bycharactersandanything in theplot. storyworld. : A changeofstateoccurringinthestoryworld,includingactions : A narrative thatrepresentsimagined (or partiallyimagined) : A sudden and life-changing moment of illumination that : Thepresentationatsomepointintheplotofaprevious event : Initialstageintheevolutionofaplotwheresettingand : Theperspective orpoint ofviewadoptedbythenarrator : Thepresentationatsomepointintheplotofafuture event : Everything that surrounds the characters in the : Stageintheevolutionofaplotwhereconflictunravels : A set of linguistic features of discourse that deviate from : eventsAnticipation offuture hints given through earlier : See (also, : See Conceit Figurative language Figure ofspeech : A narratorornarrateewhoisafigureof . – F . , Rhetorical device , Trope ): 137 Glossary of Narrative Terms 138 Prose Fiction In mediasres view ofoneormorefocalcharacters. Genre Lifeworld Ironic narrator Irony Inward focalisation Internal narratorornarratee Individuation Implied reader Implied author Ideology properties (characteristics)toacharacter. of whatisbeingstated. Hyperbole reader. a figureofdiscourse,isalsoanexistentthestoryworld,particularly events inthestorythatmean something very different,even theopposite, to, whatismeant. to emphasiseacertainpointorcreatestrongimpression. its narrative, andwhosethoughtsattitudesmaydifferfromanactual inferred bythereaderfromtextitself. minor ormajorcharacter. some pointinthemiddleofplot(‘inthings’). structures theworldviewofapersonorgroup. based oncertainsharedfeatures. : Useofdiscourse to statesomethingdifferentfrom,or even opposite : Conventional groupingof texts (or other semiotic representations) : An interconnectedsetofbeliefs, ideas,values, and norms that : Theworldexperiencedby writersandreadersintheirlives. : A figure ofspeechthatmakes an exaggeratedclaim in order : refers tonarrativesA Latinexpressionthat at begin that : Theascriptionofmental,physical,orbehavioural : A narrator who makes statements aboutthecharacters or : Thevirtualreadertowhomtheimpliedauthoraddresses : The projection of the real author in the text, as canbe : Theprojectionoftherealauthorintext, : Narration from the subjectivefrom the : Narration perspective orpointof : A narratorornarrateewho,besides being – H – G – L – I Mise en abyme Limited narrator Novella Novel Nonfiction Narrator Narratology Narrative Narratee connected bytimeandcause. Motif Moral Metonymy Metaphor a standardnovel,read in intended tobe in prose,andgenerally written environments drawnfromthelifeworldofwritersand readers. their structure(howtheywork)andfunction(whatarefor). that embeds self-reflecting or recursiveembeds self-reflecting that paradoxical imagestocreate the internalor psychological states of one or some of the existentsin intended tobereadinsilence. idea orthing,withwhichitissomehowconnectedrelatedinmeaning. silence. symbolic significance. storyworld. narrations. between twoideasorthingsbyequatingreplacingonewiththeother. : An existent thatrecurs throughout thestory and often has a : A fictionalnarrativein prose,andgenerally written ofbooklength, : See : A fictional narrative longerthanashortstorybutshorter : Thefigureofdiscoursethattellsthestorytoanarratee. : Thefigureofdiscoursetowhomastoryistoldbythenarrator. : Semioticrepresentationofasequenceevents, meaningfully : A figureofspeech that establishesarelationshipofresemblance : A narrative thatclaimstorepresentcharacters,events, and : with another replaces anideaorthing A figureofspeechthat Thesis : Thesystematic study ofnarratives in ordertounderstand (fromFrench,‘placed into anabyss’): A literarydevice : A narrator who has only limited knowledge about . – M – N 139 Glossary of Narrative Terms 140 Prose Fiction voices. Oxymoron Outward focalisation Omniscient narrator Objective narrator complex and increases inintensity. characteristics toanonhumanentity,object,oridea. paradox. perspective orpointofviewanythecharacters. of allcharactersandtheunfoldingevents. only reportwhatcanbeobserved fromtheoutside. or psychologicalstatesofanythecharacters in thestoryworld and can Plot Personification Rising action Rhetorical device Rhetoric Resolution Red herring Realism Protagonist Prose Polyphony appear to be contradictory, but which containaconcealedpointor appear tobecontradictory,but an accuratereflectionofthelifeworld(i.e.‘real’world). achieve somegoal. existents ofthestoryworld,includinginternalorpsychologicalstates story inatemporalandcausalsequence. : Themeaningfularrangementorrepresentationoftheevents inthe : Writtenorspokenlanguagewithoutmetricalstructure. : Narrative discourse that aims to construct astoryworldthatis : Theartofcraftingeffective orpersuasive discourse. : connects orcombineselements that A figureofspeechthat : Theactionofsolvingaconflictattheendplot. : The inclusion in narrative ofadiversity ofpointsviewand : Themaincharacterofastory,theonewhostrugglesto : Foreshadowingofanevent thatnever takesplaceintheplot. : Stageintheevolutionofa plotwheretheconflictbecomes : A figureofspeechthatattributespersonalorhuman : See : A narratorwhohasnoknowledgethe internal about : A narratorwhoknowseverything aboutthe : Narrationthatavoids taking thesubjective Figure ofspeech – O – R – P . group oftexts. developments basedonprevious events. duration. connector (usually,‘like’or‘as’). connections between theexistentsofstoryand helps thereaderto characters ofastorywithouttheintervention (or,inthecaseofnarrative Suspense Surprise Summary Style Storyworld Story Speech tags Simile Significant detail Showing Short story Setting Semiotics Scene Symbol recreate thestoryworldinherimagination. arbitrarily associated withinternalorexternal meanings. association. In narrative, symbols areexistentsofthestorythatbecome and sequence of events inenoughdetailtocreatetheillusion that the events. existents (events, environments,andcharacters). environments inthestory. events areunfoldinginfrontofthenarratee(andultimately,reader). showing, withminimalorlimitedintervention) ofanarrator. signs andsignifyingsystemstocommunicatemeanings. novella, writteninprose,andgenerallyintendedtobereadsilence. between twoideasorthingsthroughanexplicitcomparisonusinga : A characteristicsetoflinguisticfeaturesassociated with atextor : A completechronologicalsequenceofinterconnectedevents. : Thenarrative representationofanenvironment,setcharacters, : A figureofspeechthatestablishesarelationshipresemblance : The meaningful arrangementor representation of the : Anything thatrepresentssomethingelseby virtueofanarbitrary : A turnofthe plotthatdisproves thereader’s anticipationof : Thedirectrepresentationoftheevents, environments,and : Reader’s anticipationandcuriosityaboutfutureplot : Studyofmeaning-makingprocesses, especially theuse of : Thenarrative representationofevents bycompressing their : Theworld of the story,whichincludes different typesof : A fictionalnarrative ofshorterlength thananovel anda : See Dialogue tags : A descriptive detailthatreveals meaningful . – S 141 Glossary of Narrative Terms 142 Prose Fiction Verisimilitude Verse Typical character Type Trope Topography Thesis Theme Telling what theimpliedreaderknows(orinfers)tobe realintentionor who givesor commentsontheevents, anaccountandofteninterprets Unreliable narrator Universal character discourse. of astory. often containingarhyme. Synopsis Synecdoche readers thatthestoryworldisafaithfulimitationof ‘real’world. aspect ofhumanityoraparticulargrouphumans. environments, orcharactersofthestoryworld. term forapartreferstothewholeofsomething,orviceversa. humanity orthewholehumanspecies. meaning ofthenarrative discourse. space. by narrative discourse. : See : Writtenor spoken languagearrangedinmetrical rhythm, and : See (also, : A relevant meaningidentifiedbyaninterpreterinnarrative : Therepresentationofastorythroughthemediationnarrator, : events,summary ofthe A brief environments,andcharacters Typical character Figure ofspeech : A figureofspeech,closelyrelatedwithmetonymy,wherea : Thearrangementof natural and artificial thingslaid out in Moral : Featuresofnarrative discourse that attempttoconvince (also, ): A message or lesson explicitly orimplicitlyconveyed : A narrator whomakes statements thatcontradict : A characterthatrepresentsageneralaspectof Type . . ): A characterthatrepresentsaparticular – U – V – T This book need not end here...

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